Dealwatch: Transactional teams move into gear in strong spring showing
Legal Business
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) (pictured) has secured a key corporate role for engineering company and long-term client The Weir Group on the $1.3bn acquisition of US mining equipment manufacturer ESCO Corporation. London corporate partner Mike Flockhart is heading the HSF team, alongside City competition partner Kim Dietzel. Sullivan & Cromwell is advising Weir on US law, led by corporate partners Matt Hurd and Scott Crofton. Meanwhile Oregon-based law firm Stoel Rives is advising ESCO on the deal.
Ropes & Gray has advised Nordic Capital on the transfer of its 2008 vintage fund’s remaining nine unlisted portfolio companies to a continuation vehicle in a €2.5bn transaction. The team was led by investment funds partner Matthew Judd in London. Meanwhile Kirkland & Ellis also advised the private equity investor with a team led by Theodore Cardos and Anand Damodaran. The team also included investment funds partners Michael Belsley, Richard Watkins and Christopher Braunack, regulatory partners Lisa Cawley and Adam Skinner, antitrust partners Ellen Jakovic, Mike Robert-Smith and Michael Thorpe, and employee benefits partner Elizabeth Dyer. Offshore law firm Carey Olsen’s funds partner Daniel O’Connor and corporate partner Guy Coltman also acted on the deal.
Ashurst assembled a team led by corporate partner Tom Mercer as it advised longstanding client Vedanta Resources on an $813m acquisition of Electrosteel Steels by its Indian-listed subsidiary. The deal is being implemented under a resolution plan approved by the Indian National Company Law Tribunal. The funds received as debt and equity will be used to settle debts owed to the existing financial creditors of Electrosteel. Indian law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co has been advising on the affairs at Electrosteel.
Clifford Chance (CC) has advised private equity house 3i Group, and funds managed by 3i, as it sold its stake in Scandlines for €1.7bn to funds managed by First State Investments and Hermes Investment Management. The CC team was comprised of London partners Brendan Moylan and Jenine Hulsmann, Munich partners Markus Muhs and Barbara Mayer-Trautmann, as well as Kerstin Kopp (Frankfurt) and Marc Besen (Düsseldorf). Baker McKenzie acted on behalf of First State and Hermes throughout the acquisition, led by London corporate partner Tim Sheddick alongside Germany partners Nicholas Reinhuber and Jon Meese. Danish firms Bruun & Hjejle and Gorrissen Federspiel provided Danish law advice to the investors and 3i respectively.
Travers Smith has landed a role advising long-term AIM-listed client Breedon Group on the acquisition of Lagan Group Holdings. The £455m deal for the Belfast-based construction materials business will combine Breedon and Lagan to create an independent group in the UK and Ireland. The Travers team was led by corporate partners Spencer Summerfield and Jon Reddington. Additional advice was given by Danny Peel, Nigel Seay, Simon Yates and Paul Kenny. Lagan shareholders were advised by Belfast-based law firm Carson McDowell.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher advised The Stars Group as they agreed to acquire Sky Betting & Gaming from CVC Capital Partners. The team was headed up by corporate partners Jonathan Earle and Charlie Geffen in the $4.7bn deal, while the Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer team advising CVC was led by M&A specialist Tim Wilmot, global transactions partners Valerie Ford Jacob and Christopher Mort, and antitrust expert Alastair Chapman.