Hat-trick of magic circle firms lead the line on Arsenal takeover bid
Magic circle trio up front as bid by majority owner Stan Kroenke values club at £1.8bn
August 07, 2018 at 07:02 AM
3 minute read
Clifford Chance (CC), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May are all advising on Arsenal majority shareholder Stan Kroenke's £600m offer to buy the whole of the football club.
The bid, which values the Premier League club at £1.8bn, will require Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov to relinquish his 30% shareholding. Kroenke currently holds a 67% stake in the club through his company Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE).
Kroenke has turned to longstanding adviser Tim Lewis of Clifford Chance on the bid. Corporate partner Lewis – who is working alongside fellow M&A partner Katherine Moir – previously acted for KSE on its unsuccessful full takeover bid in 2011.
Arsenal's independent directors are being advised by Slaughters, with corporate partners Andrew Jolly and Paul Mudie leading the magic circle firm's team. The firm has a longstanding relationship with the club, with corporate heavyweight Nigel Boardman also acting on Kroenke's 2011 bid.
Meanwhile, Freshfields is leading for billionaire Usmanov's company Red & White Securities with a team headed by London managing partner and M&A heavyweight Julian Long.
The offer document states that the proposed deal "will result in the opening of a new chapter in the history of the club in bringing 100% private ownership", which will "bring the benefits of a single owner better able to move quickly in furtherance of the club's strategy and ambitions".
In 2011, Linklaters acted for former Arsenal shareholder Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith on the sale of her 15.9% stake to Kroenke with a team led by City corporate partner Ian Bagshaw, now of White & Case.
That deal led to Bracewell-Smith bringing an £11m professional negligence claim against Linklaters and big four accountant Deloitte, alleging that errors made by the law firm played a part in her decision to sell her shares to Kroenke.
Her claim states that, but for errors made by both Linklaters and Deloitte, which allegedly exposed her to capital gains tax liabilities, she "would not have sold her Arsenal shares to KSE but rather would have sold them to Alisher Usmanov (or some other purchaser)".
In July, Deloitte stepped down as Linklaters' auditor due to complications presented by the ongoing lawsuit. That led to the firm's 2017-18 financial results, which were announced last week (12 July), being delayed by just over a week due to the transfer of auditing duties from Deloitte to PwC.
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