Deal watch: Corporate activity in October

Posted on |

Arrow Global IPO

Debevoise & Plimpton and Slaughter and May landed roles on Arrow Global’s initial public offering (IPO). Slaughters was the primary adviser to Arrow Global and its primary shareholder RBS Special Opportunities Fund (RBS), led by corporate partners David Johnson and Richard Smith. The London office of Debevoise, led by David Innes, advised members of the executive committee and other shareholders on its successful IPO last month, which valued the company at £357m. The successful IPO marks a partial exit for RBS, which acquired the company in 2009.

Cleary advises Inter Milan on equity sale

Inter Milan has turned to Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton on the sale of equity to International Sports Capital (ISC), which will give ISC a controlling 70% stake in the club. Cleary’s team was led by  Continue reading “Deal watch: Corporate activity in October”

Deal Watch: Hogan Lovells and CC lead on AMC Networks’ $1bn buyout

Posted on |

Clifford Chance (CC) and Hogan Lovells have plugged into the renaissance in US television production after advising on a $1bn (€750m) buyout by US entertainment group AMC Networks of Chellomedia, the international content division of media company Liberty Global.

The acquisition announced on Monday (28 October) provides the entertainment group with 68 new television channels distributed to more than 390m households in 138 countries, and the opportunity to distribute its programming worldwide, including celebrated shows like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and The Walking Dead.

Continue reading “Deal Watch: Hogan Lovells and CC lead on AMC Networks’ $1bn buyout”

Deal watch: Hogan Lovells, RPC in key work for Kodak and AstraZeneca as DLA Piper reveals major High Court win

Posted on |

This week has seen two of the larger global challenger firms reveal significant wins on behalf of major international clients. Hogan Lovells closed a $650m acquisition for the trustees of the Kodak Pension Plan and DLA Piper secured victory for China Southern Airlines in the High Court. Meanwhile, one of the top performers in this year’s LB100, RPC, is advising AstraZeneca on its move to a new purpose-built HQ in Cambridge.

Continue reading “Deal watch: Hogan Lovells, RPC in key work for Kodak and AstraZeneca as DLA Piper reveals major High Court win”

Regulatory work: Cadwalader and Cleary face off over Ryanair/Aer Lingus, while Links and HSF advise on PPI compensation pot

Posted on |

In a move being watched with interest by M&A lawyers and competition experts throughout Europe, the Competition Commission (CC) has today (28 August) dealt another blow to Ryanair’s long-held ambitions to buy Aer Lingus by ordering the airline to sell the majority of its 30% stake held in its rival, ruling that the minority stake could allow it to materially influence Aer Lingus in a way that may be anti-competitive.

However, Ryanair has wasted no time in saying it will appeal against the decision, described by Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary to the BBC as ‘bizarre and manifestly wrong’. This will meaning more work for Ryanair’s seasoned advisors, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, led by competition partner Nicholas Levy.

Continue reading “Regulatory work: Cadwalader and Cleary face off over Ryanair/Aer Lingus, while Links and HSF advise on PPI compensation pot”

Deal Watch: Dentons & King & Spalding act on HR Owen hostile takeover bid as Freshfields and Skadden secure Asian M&A roles

Posted on |

While the traditional August lull in corporate work may have seen Asia relax, the giant is far from asleep and has gifted a number of transatlantic and Magic Circle firms with eye-catching international M&A deals.

Dentons led by corporate partner Jeremy Cohen is advising luxury car dealer HR Owen on the £32.5m hostile takeover bid by Malaysian billionaire Vincent Tan’s Berjaya Philippines, which HR Owen last week rejected as ‘derisory’. Continue reading “Deal Watch: Dentons & King & Spalding act on HR Owen hostile takeover bid as Freshfields and Skadden secure Asian M&A roles”

Deal watch: Latham and Wachtell lead on largest public deal of the year

Posted on |

In what remains a gloomy cross-border deal market, US leaders Latham & Watkins and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz have secured lead roles on the largest public merger of the year so far – the tie-up of Omnicom and Publicis Groupe. The Franco-US union creates a company with a combined market capitalisation of €26.5bn, forging the largest advertising group in the world. The combined company, which will be listed in New York and Paris, will have more than 130,000 staff.

The deal is likely to attract the attention of antitrust regulators in the US and Europe, uniting the second and third largest advertising groups in the world to overtake the UK-based WPP. Continue reading “Deal watch: Latham and Wachtell lead on largest public deal of the year”

Deal watch: M&A activity picks up as A&O, Linklaters and Hogan Lovells secure key roles

Posted on |

With Q1 2013 reported as one of the slowest starts to the year M&A-wise for a decade, the deal market appears to be gaining momentum with a handful of Global 100 firms in action in high-profile and high-value transactions recently.

Linklaters is advising the recently formed Glencore Xstrata on the disposal of its Las Bambas copper mine in Peru for around $5bn – a condition of the $64bn union between Glencore and Xstrata that was imposed by Chinese regulators. Continue reading “Deal watch: M&A activity picks up as A&O, Linklaters and Hogan Lovells secure key roles”

Deal Watch: sporting metaphor alert as Dechert, HSF and DLA Piper score high-profile football roles

Posted on |

The balance sheets of most English clubs may be shakier than Villa’s back four, but when it comes to raising your deal-doers’ profile there’s still nothing like acting for major football teams.

Among the advisers getting off the bench (sorry) are Dechert, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Squire Sanders on the sale of Fulham Football Club while DLA Piper is working on the £260m regeneration of Liverpool’s Anfield ground. Continue reading “Deal Watch: sporting metaphor alert as Dechert, HSF and DLA Piper score high-profile football roles”

Deal Watch: Slaughters, Dentons, Taylor Wessing and Nabarro act on high profile European deals

Posted on |

Europe and particularly the UK has thrown up a number of high profile mandates from the nationally significant restructuring of UK Coal through to the solid £500m private equity buyout of Chesapeake by the Carlyle Group.

Nabarro has led for UK Coal on the corporate, insolvency and pension elements of a second restructuring following a devastating fire at the company’s Daw Mill in February. The company accounts for 5% of the UK’s energy needs and as a result of the restructuring over 2,000 jobs and the pensions of 7,000 members have been protected. Continue reading “Deal Watch: Slaughters, Dentons, Taylor Wessing and Nabarro act on high profile European deals”

Deal watch: CMS, Matheson and Akin Gump act on high-profile international deals

Posted on |

As international M&A catches the headlines, CMS Cameron McKenna has advised a consortium owned by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing on a HK$9.7 billion dollar acquisition of the Netherlands’ largest waste management group AVR Afvalverwerking.

CMS London corporate partner Charles Currier and Amsterdam partners Martika Jonk and Cecilia van der Weijden led the multi-disciplinary team advising Cheung Kong Infrastructure Consortium (CKI). Last year CKI acquired MGN Gas Networks for $1bn, also advised by CMS. Continue reading “Deal watch: CMS, Matheson and Akin Gump act on high-profile international deals”