Having backed out of its proposed London float late last year, UK headquartered software company Misys has merged with Canadian fintech DH Corp through its private equity backers with Kirkland & Ellis and Cravath, Swaine & Moore winning lead roles on the deal.
Kirkland advised Vista Equity Partners along with Canadian firm Goodman on its acquisition of DH Corp for C$4.8bn.
Canadian outfit Stikeman & Elliott provided M&A defence work for DH Corp along with US elite outfit Cravath.
The combined company will have around 10,000 employees and revenues of approximately $2.2bn.
Kirkland’s team was led by US corporate partners Stuart Casillas, Joshua Zachariah, Chris Harding, Adi Herman, Abtin Jalali and Daniel Wolf as well as London based partners Gavin Gordon, Carl Bradshaw. Debt financing advice was provided by US partner Sonali Jindal and capital markets work from Joshua Korff and David Curtiss.
Cravath’s team was led by US corporate partners David Perkins and Erik Tavzel as well as Stephen Kessing, who advised on banking matters.
Stikeman’s team was led by M&A partners Martin Langois and Mike Devereux after the firm was picked by DH Corp to advise ahead of a potential deal.
The Canadian deal comes after Misys toyed with an initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange last year, taking advice from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Having shelved plans for the listing, Misys has recently been reported to be considering a US listing after a slow year for UK IPOs last year.
Kirkland also won a mandate on the potential initial public offering, with Gordon acting as the main relationship partner with PE house Vista Equity Partners. Linklaters lead for the banks on the potential IPO, which saw Misys seeking a £5.5bn valuation, before they abandoned the float in October.
matthew.field@legalease.co.uk
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