A quartet of firms have landed roles advising on the £400m purchase of British Car Auctions by private equity house Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) from Montagu Private Equity.

Clifford Chance (CC), Travers Smith, Linklaters and Debevoise & Plimpton all advised on the deal, which closed on Christmas Eve.

CC stepped in to advise CD&R on the acquisition of British Car Auctions, which is the largest vehicle auction company in the UK and Europe.

London private equity partner Simon Tinkler led the CC team advising CD&R, with Debevoise London finance partner Alan Davies advising the buyout house in relation to debt matters.

CC also stepped in to advise CD&R's lending banks, which included Bank of America Merrill Lynch and HSBC, under the lead of banking partner Jim MacHale.

The deal saw Travers advising longstanding client British Car Auctions, with corporate chief Chris Hale (pictured) at the helm. Linklaters advised Montagu under the lead of London private equity partner Richard Youle.

Montagu first purchased British Car Auctions in 2006 from a collection of private shareholders, with Linklaters also advising Montagu at that time.

British Car Auctions has over 40 auction sites across Europe, while CD&R also owns Hertz Rental.

Commenting on the deal, Hale said: "This is a further sign that larger private equity deals are beginning to return, and encouragingly bank finance was obtained to support this transaction. This deal, together with others announced recently, indicates that private equity deal activity is now recovering from the lows of last year."

Clifford Chance on the Legal Week Wiki

Travers Smith on the Legal Week Wiki