An array of City and US firms have landed roles advising on Boston Scientific’s buyout of British healthcare firm BTG in the latest bumper deal in the pharmaceutical sector. Allen & Overy (A&O), Shearman & Sterling, Travers Smith, White & Case, and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer were all called upon to advise on the deal, continuing a spate of takeovers in the UK healthcare market.
Shearman acted as lead counsel for longstanding client Boston Scientific, with a team headed by New York corporate partner Clare O’Brien alongside London-based veteran Europe and Middle East M&A head Laurence Levy. City firm Travers worked alongside Shearman, with partner Mahesh Varia advising on share option schemes, while Arnold & Porter Washington DC antitrust partner Michael Bernstein was also drafted in by Boston Scientific.
‘It was a relatively quick deal, so it required a few late nights to get it over the line,’ Levy told Legal Business. ‘In years gone by this deal would be considered significant in showing how a small number of US players are competing with the London firms for big mandates, but that’s been the case for a number of years.’
‘It was a relatively quick deal, so it required a few late nights to get it over the line.’
Laurence Levy, Shearman & Sterling
A&O fielded a team headed by corporate partner Richard Browne to advise BTG on the takeover, supported by partners Matthew Appleton, Paul McCarthy, Alasdair Balfour and Elaine Johnston. Meanwhile, White & Case partners Patrick Sarch, Philip Broke and Ben Wilkinson advised the lender, Barclays. Completion of the deal is contingent on regulatory approval, but is expected to close in mid-2019.
The pharma sector continues to provide a stream of lucrative work for the global elite, with Slaughter and May, Linklaters and Davis Polk & Wardwell all featuring in Japanese giant Takeda’s takeover of Irish pharma rival Shire earlier this year. The City elite also advised in the $13bn transaction that saw GlaxoSmithKline acquire the remaining stake in its consumer healthcare joint venture with Novartis.