A&O and Jones Day lead as Virgin Money seals investment for RBS bid
Allen & Overy (A&O) and Jones Day have taken lead roles on the tie-up between Richard Branson's Virgin Money and US investor Wilbur Ross, reports The Am Law Daily. Ross has agreed to invest £100m in Virgin Money in exchange for a 21% stake in the company, and the billionaire is set to inject as much as £500m more into Virgin Money to help it in its bid to acquire distressed British banking assets.
April 06, 2010 at 05:55 AM
2 minute read
Allen & Overy (A&O) and Jones Day have taken lead roles on the tie-up between Richard Branson's Virgin Money and US investor Wilbur Ross, reports The Am Law Daily.
Ross has agreed to invest £100m in Virgin Money in exchange for a 21% stake in the company, and the billionaire is set to inject as much as £500m more into Virgin Money to help it in its bid to acquire distressed British banking assets.
A&O is advising Virgin Money on its talks with Ross, with a team led by global co-head of corporate Andrew Ballheimer and corporate partner George Knighton.
London-based Jones Day partners John Phillips and Leon Ferera are heading up the US firm's team advising Ross.
The Government has ordered bailed-out banks, including the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Northern Rock, to sell off assets in order to repay taxpayer funds.
Virgin is considering a bid for RBS's network of 300 consumer banking branches, but may also bid for Northern Rock if it believes it cannot win the RBS unit, according to Reuters and the Wall Street Journal.
In January Virgin Money completed the £12.3m acquisition of Church House Trust, marking the company's first venture into the banking market. Denton Wilde Sapte advised Virgin Money on the deal, while TLT Solicitors took the lead role for private bank Church House.
Jones Day has a long history advising Ross and Ross-controlled entities on major deals, including a $722m (£477m) acquisition in the insurance industry last year and several deals in which the billionaire sold his interests in the US steel industry.
The Am Law Daily is the website of The American Lawyer, Legal Week's US sister title.
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