M&A work in the pharmaceutical industry continued apace last month, with White & Case’s London office winning its first mandate from CVC Capital Partners, as the private equity firm led a club of investors in buying a controlling stake in Simpson Thacher & Bartlett-client Alvogen.
Although White & Case has a historic relationship with CVC stateside, the deal for the $2bn pharma company is the first to be led out of London for the European private equity fund, which has previously turned to a raft of firms for its corporate work, including Clifford Chance and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. Private equity heavyweight Ian Bagshaw in London, alongside Oliver Brahmst from New York, led the firm’s team, which included New York partner Brian Smarsh and London partners Justin Wagstaff and Marcus Booth.
Bagshaw told Legal Business the acquisition of the company, which has over 350 products and operations in 35 countries, played out against a competitive background: ‘The pharmaceutical sector is hot in terms of competing interests at the moment, so the deal was done against a backdrop of a number of high-profile M&A deals.’
Another interesting aspect was its club structure, a relatively rare tactic since the financial crisis, with investors CVC, Temasek Holdings and Vatera Healthcare Partners banding together to purchase the stake from Pamplona Capital Management. Simpson Thacher led for Alvogen and Pamplona, with a team that included Peter Martelli in New York and Clare Gaskell in London, while US firm Lowenstein Sandler provided additional advice to Pamplona, which only bought its stake in the company last year.
Bagshaw added: ‘Ultimately, it was a complex deal because of the nature of the consortia and the different drivers within it meant there were a number of points of view to reconcile.’
Those other points of view saw biotech/pharmaceutical investment specialist Vatera advised by a Willkie Farr & Gallagher team led by the firm’s private equity chair Gordon Caplan, while Slaughter and May’s Nigel Boardman acted for longstanding client Temasek.
michael.west@legalease.co.uk