WPP, Credit: wpp.comA&O and US Firms Acting as WPP Makes $4B Sale to Private Equity Giant
The British advertising giant has agreed to sell a 60% stake in its data analytics branch to Bain.
July 15, 2019 at 05:33 AM
2 minute read
Allen & Overy (A&O), Paul Hastings, and Weil Gotshal & Manges are advising as British advertising giant WPP sells a majority stake in its data arm to U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital in a multibillion-dollar deal.
WPP has agreed to sell a 60% stake in its data analytics branch Kantar to Bain in a deal that values Kantar at about $4 billion.
Kantar is a London-headquartered market research business employing more than 30,000 people across 100 countries.
A&O is advising longstanding client WPP with a team led by M&A partner Annabelle Croker, corporate partner Gillian Holgate, and private equity and M&A partner Stephen Lloyd.
Bain, meanwhile, turned to a Weil Gotshal team comprising banking and finance partner Tom Richards, M&A partner Marco Compagnoni, IP partner Barry Fishley, and tax partner Oliver Walker.
Paul Hastings is acting for a group of 10 banks backing the deal – including Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs – with a team led by corporate partners Luke McDougall, Peter Schwartz, Richard Kitchen and Edward Homes; M&A partner Garrett Hayes; tax partner Arun Birla; finance partners Shekhar Kumar and Randal Palach; as well as tax partner David Makso in New York.
A&O advised WPP last year after former CEO Sir Martin Sorrell faced allegations of misconduct, while Weil Gotshal acted alongside Slaughter and May as Bain made a £1.2 billion bid for insurance company Esure.
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