Magic circle duo and Gibson Dunn check out roles on Asda-Sainsbury's merger
Trio of firms advising as UK's second and third largest supermarkets confirm merger plan
April 30, 2018 at 03:24 AM
3 minute read
Slaughter and May, Linklaters and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher are all advising on the proposed merger of supermarket giants Asda and Sainsbury's, a deal that is set to reshape the UK's grocery industry.
The merger discussions between the UK's second- and third-largest food retailers were revealed this weekend, with an announcement to the London Stock Exchange this morning (30 April) confirming the details of the proposed deal.
The combination – which is set to face close scrutiny from the Competition and Markets Authority – is set to create a company worth more than £10bn, with a combined market share ahead of current market leader Tesco.
Slaughters is advising Asda's owner, US retail giant Walmart, with a team led by M&A heavyweight Nigel Boardman and corporate partners Victoria MacDuff and Sally Wokes, alongside finance partner Guy O'Keefe, tax partner Steve Edge, pensions and employment partners Jonathan Fenn and Charles Cameron.
Other partners involved in the deal include Cathy Connolly (IP/IT), Jane Edwarde (real estate) and Ben Kingsley (financial regulation.)
Wal-Mart is set to receive just under £3bn in cash for the deal, as well as a 42% stake in the merged business.
Combined revenues of the two businesses would exceed £51bn.
Asda is a longstanding client of the magic circle firm, which advised on its 2010 purchase of Netto Foodstores. Boardman also led the firm's team on Walmart's £6.7bn takeover of the company in 1999, a deal that saw Simmons & Simmons lead for Walmart.
Gibson Dunn is advising Walmart and Asda on competition issues, fielding a team led by London competition head Ali Nikpay and fellow competition partner Deirdre Taylor.
Nikpay joined the US firm in 2013 from the Office of Fair Trading, where he worked on some of the most significant mergers in recent years, including Anglo American and Lafarge, LSE and LCH.Clearnet, and Rank and Gala. Since joining Gibson Dunn he has advised on deals including Gala Coral's 2016 merger with Ladbrokes.
Linklaters, meanwhile, is advising Sainsbury's with a team led by corporate partners Iain Fenn and Michael Honan, UK competition head Nicole Kar, competition partner Simon Pritchard and managing associate Margot Lindsay.
The magic circle firm has longstanding ties to the company. In 2003, it advised on its abandoned bid for rival Safeway and it also sits on the supermarket's UK legal panel, which was reviewed last year, with 11 firms appointed including Addleshaw Goddard and CMS.
Other major law firms to have advised Sainsbury's in recent years include Clifford Chance (CC), which took a lead role on its 2016 acquisition of Argos and Habitat owner Home Retail Group.
Linklaters advised Home Retail Group on that deal, opposite a CC team led by corporate head Guy Norman and M&A partner Patrick Sarch, who has since left to join White & Case.
Picture credit: Elliott Brown
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