Cobham jet. Credit: Cobham.Raft of Top Firms On Front Line In £4B Military Manufacturer Deal
The latest in a slew of private equity acquisitions this month - this one sees U.K. defence firm Cobham being bought.
July 25, 2019 at 06:56 AM
3 minute read
Allen & Overy (A&O), Linklaters, Weil Gotshal & Manges, White & Case, Paul Hastings and Norton Rose Fulbright are advising on the £4 billion sale of U.K. defense and aerospace group Cobham to a subsidiary of U.S. private equity giant Advent International.
Cobham is a manufacturer based in Dorset, and employs about 100,000 people making technology and electronic warfare systems for military vehicles.
The £4 billion cash acquisition is being made by AI Convoy Bidco, which is a subsidiary of funds managed by Advent – a private equity investor focusing on international buyouts, which currently has $36 billion in assets under management.
A&O is acting for Cobham with a team led by M&A partners Richard Browne and Seth Jones, competition partner Alasdair Balfour, and employment partner Paul McCarthy.
Meanwhile, Linklaters is advising Advent and AI Convoy on the transaction, fielding a team led by corporate partners Chris Boycott and Nick Rumsby.
Weil is also advising Advent and AI Convoy on financing, regulatory and antitrust matters, with a team including banking and finance partner Tom Richards, and private equity partner Jonathan Wood.
Fellow U.S. firm White & Case is advising GSO Capital Partners – the hedge fund arm of the Blackstone Group – on "a three-tier financing package to support Advent International's offer", the firm said in a statement.
White & Case's team is led by London partner Gareth Eagles and also includes corporate partners Colin Harley, Marcus Booth, Michael Mountain, Philip Broke and Patrick Sarch.
Norton Rose is advising the financial advisers Goldman Sachs and Citigroup on the acquisition. The team is being led by corporate partner Paul Whitelock and banking partner James Dunnett.
Paul Hastings, meanwhile, is acting for Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Citibank in their capacity as underwriters on a £2.5 billion lien financing for Advent's bid. The firm's team was led by London partner Luke McDougall and included partners Shekhar Kumar, Richard Kitchen, Ed Holmes, David Makso and Roger Barron.
It has been a big month for private equity deals, which has seen A&O, Paul Hastings and Weil advising on the $4 billion sale of British advertising giant WPP to U.S private equity firm Bain Capital.
Earlier this month, Clifford Chance and Slaughter and May advised on the sale of Irish building materials company CRH's Europe distribution business to private equity giant Blackstone in a €1.6 billion deal.
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