The largest recent transactions, all worth at least $1 billion, involving targets or acquirors from jurisdictions across Europe. All deals were announced between October 1, 2014 and April 1, 2015. Deals that were pending at press time are starred(*). Research by Mergermarket and Rebecca Geiger.
Target: Allergan Inc (U.S.)
Counsel: Latham & Watkins; Matheson; Richards Layton & Finger; Stikeman Elliott; Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Counsel for financial adviser Bank of America Merrill Lynch: Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
Counsel for financial adviser Goldman, Sachs & Co.: Ropes & Gray
Bidder: Actavis plc (Ireland)
Counsel: Arthur Cox; Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; Conyers Dill & Pearman; Covington & Burling; Loyens & Loeff; Weil, Gotshal & Manges
Counsel for joint book runners JPMorgan Chase & Co., Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. and Wells Fargo Securities: Cravath, Swaine & Moore
Value: $66 billion
Target: EE Limited* (U.K.)
Seller: Orange S.A. and Deutsche Telekom AG (Germany)
Counsel: Clifford Chance; Norton Rose Fulbright
Counsel for financial advisers Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Bank PLC and others: Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Bidder: BT Group plc (U.K.)
Counsel: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Value: $19 billion
Target: Freescale Semiconductor Inc* (U.S.)
Counsel: Houthoff Buruma; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Counsel for financial adviser Morgan Stanley: Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Seller: The Blackstone Group L.P.,
TPG Capital L.P. and other shareholders
Counsel: Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Bidder: NXP Semiconductors N.V. (Netherlands)
Counsel: De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Counsel for financial adviser Credit Suisse AG: Davis Polk & Wardwell; White & Case
Value: $16.7 billion
Target: 02 UK* (U.K.)
Seller: Telefónica SA (Spain)
Counsel: Herbert Smith Freehills
Bidder: Hutchison Whampoa Limited (Three) (Hong Kong)
Counsel: Baker & McKenzie; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Linklaters
Value: $15.3 billion
Target: Alstom SA (Thermal Power, Renewable Power and Grid business)* (France)
Seller: Alstom SA (France)
Counsel: Cabinet Bompoint; Hogan Lovells; Stikeman Elliott; Weil, Gotshal & Manges
Counsel for Alstom board of directors: Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Counsel for French government: Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Bidder: General Electric Company (U.S.)
Counsel: Arnold & Porter; Bredin Prat; Clifford Chance; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Slaughter and May
Value: $14.3 billion
Target: Talisman Energy Inc* (Canada)
Counsel: Norton Rose Fulbright; Slaughter and May; Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Counsel for financial adviser Goldman, Sachs & Co.: Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Counsel for financial adviser Nomura Holdings Inc.: Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
Counsel for Talisman board of directors: Blake, Cassels & Graydon
Bidder: Repsol SA (Spain)
Counsel: Advokatfirmaet Simonsen Vogt Wiig; Bennett Jones; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; KPMG Abogados; Sullivan &
Cromwell; Uría Menéndez
Value: $13 billion
Target: Portugal Telecom SGPS SA* (Portugal)
Counsel: Cuatreçasas, Goncalves Pereira; Souza, Cescon, Barrieu & Flesch Advogados
Seller: Oi SA (Brazil)
Counsel: Barbosa, Müssnich & Aragão; Eskenazi Pernidji; Serra Lopes, Cortes Martins & Associados
Bidder: Altice S.A. (Luxembourg)
Counsel: Franklin; Mayer Brown; Ropes & Gray; Uría Menéndez
Counsel for underwriters including Deutsche Bank AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and others: Latham & Watkins
Value: $9.1 billion
Target: Friends Life Group Plc* (U.K.)
Counsel: Linklaters
Bidder: Aviva Plc (U.K.)
Counsel: Allen & Overy
Counsel for financial advisers J.P. Morgan Cazenove and Morgan Stanley: Clifford Chance
Value: $8.8 billion
Target: PetSmart, Inc. (U.S.)
Counsel: Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Counsel for financial adviser J. P. Morgan Securities LLC: Greenberg Traurig
Bidder: Consortium including BC Partners Limited (U.K.), La Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec and others
Counsel: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; Stikeman Elliott
Counsel for Longview Asset Management: Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Counsel for debt providers Nomura Holdings, Deutsche Bank AG and others: Paul Hastings
Value: $8.7 billion
Target: Rexam PLC* (U.K.)
Counsel: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Counsel for financial adviser Greenhill & Co., Inc.: Davis Polk & Wardwell
Bidder: Ball Corporation (U.S.)
Counsel: Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Slaughter and May
Value: $8.4 billion
Target: Pirelli & C. SpA* (Italy)
Seller: Cam Finanziaria (Camfin) S.p.A. and investors including UniCredit S.p.A., Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and Rosneft
Counsel for Camfin: Chiomenti; d’Urso Gatti e Bianchi; Lombardi Molinari Segni
Counsel for UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo: d’Urso Gatti e Bianchi
Counsel for Rosneft: Linklaters; Studio Legale Associato
Bidder: Consortium led by China National Tire & Rubber (China)
Counsel: Clifford Chance; Jun He; Pedersoli e Associati
Counsel for underwriters JPMorgan Securities plc: Latham & Watkins; Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners
Value: $8 billion
Target: Songbird Estates Plc (69.4% Stake) (U.K.)
Counsel: Clifford Chance; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Slaughter and May
Counsel for financial adviser Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds: Jones Day
Seller: Madison International Realty LLC, Morgan Stanley, Simon Glick and others
Bidder: Qatar Investment Authority (Qatar) and Brookfield Property Partners L.P.
Counsel for Qatar Investment Authority: Shearman & Sterling
Counsel for Brookfield: Linklaters
Counsel for financial adviser Barclays Bank PLC, Citigroup and HSBC Holdings plc: Herbert Smith Freehills
Value: $6.9 billion
Target: Holcim Ltd and Lafarge SA (Certain assets)* (France)
Seller: Lafarge S.A. and Holcim Ltd. (Switzerland)
Counsel: Blake, Cassels & Graydon
Counsel for Lafarge: Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; Pinheiro Neto
Counsel for Holcim: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Homburger; Linklaters; TozziniFreire
Bidder: CRH plc (Ireland)
Counsel: ARQIS; Arthur Cox; Demarest; Landwell & Associés; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
Value: $7.4 billion
Target: Fortum Distribution AB* (Sweden)
Seller: Fortum Corporation (Finland)
Counsel: Avance Attorneys; Vinge
Bidder: Consortium including Borealis Infrastructure Management Inc. (Canada); Folksam AB; Första AP-Fonden and Tredje AP-Fonde
Counsel: Hammarskiöld & Co; Linklaters; Mannheimer Swartling; Torys
Counsel for bank syndicate including Deutsche Bank AG: Torngren Magnell
Value: $7 billion
Target: Compañía General de Electricidad S.A. (Chile)
Counsel: Guerrero Olivos
Seller: Marin family, Grupo Almeria, and Pérez Cruz family
Bidder: Gas Natural Fenosa (Spain)
Counsel: Claro & Cía; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Value: $7 billion
Target: QCLNG Pipeline Pty Ltd* (Australia)
Seller: BG Group plc (U.K.)
Counsel: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; King & Wood Mallesons
Bidder: APA Group Ltd (Australia)
Counsel: Allens
Value: $5 billion
Target: NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc (U.S.)
Counsel: Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Counsel for financial adviser Goldman, Sachs & Co.: Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
Bidder: Shire plc (Ireland)
Counsel: Davis Polk & Wardwell; Slaughter and May
Value: $5.2 billion
Target: GAGFAH S.A. (Luxembourg)
Counsel: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Bidder: Deutsche Annington Immobilien SE (Germany)
Counsel: Allen & Overy; Sullivan & Cromwell
Counsel for financial adviser JPMorgan Chase & Co.: Clifford Chance; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Counsel for financial adviser Credit Suisse AG: Latham & Watkins
Value: $4.9 billion
Target: UIL Holdings Corporation* (U.S.)
Counsel: Sullivan & Cromwell; Wiggin and Dana
Counsel for financial adviser Morgan Stanley: Baker Botts
Bidder: Iberdrola USA Inc (Spain)
Counsel: Latham & Watkins; White & Case
Counsel for financial adviser Lazard Ltd.: Cravath, Swaine & Moore
Value: $4.7 billion
Target: Omega Pharma Invest NV (Belgium)
Seller: NV investors including Waterland Private Fund V CV, Marc Coucke (Netherlands)
Counsel: Allen & Overy; William Fry
Bidder: Perrigo Company plc (Ireland)
Counsel: A&L Goodbody; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Counsel for financial adviser J.P. Morgan Securities Co. Ltd.: Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Counsel for debt providers Barclays Bank PLC and JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A.: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Value: $4.5 billion
Target: SIG Combibloc Group AG* (Switzerland)
Seller: Reynolds Group Holdings Limited (New Zealand)
Counsel: Debevoise & Plimpton; Slaughter and May
Bidder: Onex Corporation (Canada)
Counsel: Bär & Karrer; Binder Grösswang; Chandler & Thong-ek Law Offices; Latham & Watkins; Minter Ellison Rudd Watts; OPF Partners; Veirano
Counsel for joint lead arrangers/financers Barclays Bank PLC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and others: Weil, Gotshal & Manges
Value: $4.7 billion
Target: Nutreco N.V. (Netherlands)
Counsel: De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Bidder: SHV Investments Ltd. (Netherlands)
Counsel: Allen & Overy
Value: $4 billion
Target: TDF S.A.S.* (France)
Counsel: Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier
Sellers: Charterhouse Capital Partners LLP (U.S.); TPG Capital LP; Ardian and BPI France Investissement SA
Counsel: BDGS Associés
Bidders: Public Sector Pension Investment Board (Canada), Brookfield Infrastructure Group and others
Counsel: Hannes Snellman; Hogan Lovells; Loyens & Loeff; Sullivan & Cromwell
Counsel for Brookfield: Hogan Lovells
Value: $4.4 billion
Target: Danske Bank A/S (15% Stake)* (Denmark)
Seller: A.P. Møller – Maersk A/S (Denmark)
Counsel: Gorrissen Federspiel
Bidder: A.P. Møller Holding A/S (Denmark)
Counsel: Kromann Reumert
Value: $4 billion
Data: Mergermarket and Focus Europe research
