Norton Rose Fulbright advises on over US$53bn of M&A deals in first half of 2018

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised on over US$53 billion of M&A transactions in the first half of calendar year 2018.

In the first six months of this year, the firm has advised on a number of high-profile deals, including:

• Advised Rothschild and RBC Capital Markets as financial advisers to Melrose Industries on its £8.1 billion hostile offer for GKN, led by partner Paul Whitelock.
• Advised CHAMP Private Equity on the sale of Accolade Wines to Carlyle Group, led by Mike Knapper and Jill Gauntlett in London and including Accolade global relationship partner Frances Drummond who led the global brands review diligence in Sydney.
• Advised Wolf Midstream Inc. in connection with an agreement with MEG Energy Corp to acquire MEG’s 50 percent ownership interest in Access Pipeline and a 100 percent ownership interest in the Stonefell Terminal for C$1.52 billion, led by Rick Borden, Ryan Keays, KayLynn Litton, and Rujuta Patel.
• Advised Delta Air Lines, Inc. on its amended transatlantic joint venture with Virgin Atlantic and Air France KLM and shareholder arrangements with Virgin Group and Air France KLM in relation to the acquisition of a stake in Virgin Atlantic by AFKL, led by partners Chris Randall, Chris Pearson and Claire O’Donnell.
• Advising Enbridge in connection with the sale of Midcoast Operating, L.P. and all of its subsidiaries to an affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners for US$1.12 billion led by Deborah Gitomer.
• Advised Citigroup as financial adviser to Advent International on its £1 billion recommended offer for Laird, led by partner Paul Whitelock.
• Advised Canadian Tire on their acquisition of Helly Hansen, a leading global brand in sportswear and workwear based in Oslo, Norway for C$985m, led by Walied Soliman, Terence Dobbin and Troy Ungerman.
• Advised Cabot in connection with the US$765 million sale of their exploration and production assets in the Eagle Ford shale consisting of approximately 74,500 net acres primarily located in Frio and Atascosa Counties, Texas, led by Deborah Gitomer.
• Advised a three-party Chinese consortium led by China Resources (Holdings) Company Limited on its £600 million acquisition of a 30 per cent stake in the 402MW Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm in the UK, from Statkraft UK Limited, led by Hong Kong partner Psyche Tai and London partner Stephen Rigby.
• Advised Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company on the sale by Thomson Reuters Corporation of a majority stake in its financial and risk business, led by senior associate Clementine Hogarth and partner Jon Perry.
• Advised the Wu family, founders of Nature’s Care, on one of the largest private equity investments in Australia so far in 2018 to a Chinese consortium, led by partner Richard G Lewis.
• Advised Trinity Mirror plc on its acquisition of Northern & Shell’s publishing assets, including the Daily Express, Daily Star and OK!, led by partners Chris Pearson and Claire O’Donnell.
• Advised John L. Wortham & Son, L.P. in the sale of all of its assets to Marsh USA Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, led by Brian Fenske.
• Advised the Chinese Lei Shing Hong Group, the world’s largest dealer for Mercedes Benz cars, on the takeover of Autohaus Sternagel GmbH and Autohaus Sternagel Ludwigsfelde GmbH, led by Frankfurt partner Frank Regelin and Of Counsel Marco Niehaus.
• Advised Nomad Foods on the agreement to acquire Aunt Bessie’s Limited from William Jackson & Son Limited, led by partner Jason Moss.

Raj Karia, Norton Rose Fulbright head of Corporate, M&A and Securities, Europe, Middle East and Asia, commented: “The M&A market has proved robust during the first half of 2018 and the outlook is positive, notwithstanding wider geopolitical volatility and increased regulatory scrutiny. However, this can change at any time with short term sentiment turning very quickly on the back of some negative news. Consolidation to increase competitive strength is a key theme, particularly in the consumer, media and technology sectors and the uptick in the oil price is starting to have a positive impact on the energy sector. Deal making has been driven in part by the continued availability of debt and ‘wall of capital’ sitting in the hands of private equity and sovereign wealth funds.”

For further information please contact:

Louise Nelson, Senior PR Manager
Tel: +44 (0)20 7444 5086; Mob: +44 (0)7909 684 893
louise.nelson@nortonrosefulbright.com

Notes for editors:

Norton Rose Fulbright

Norton Rose Fulbright is a global law firm providing the world’s preeminent corporations and financial institutions with a full business law service. The firm has more than 4,000 lawyers and other legal staff based in Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Africa and the Middle East.

Recognized for its industry focus, Norton Rose Fulbright is strong across all the key industry sectors: financial institutions; energy; infrastructure, mining and commodities; transport; technology and innovation; and life sciences and healthcare. Through its global risk advisory group, the firm leverages its industry experience with its knowledge of legal, regulatory, compliance and governance issues to provide clients with practical solutions to the legal and regulatory risks facing their businesses.

Norton Rose Fulbright operates in accordance with its global business principles of quality, unity and integrity, aiming to provide the highest possible standard of legal service in each of its offices and to maintain that level of quality at every point of contact.

Norton Rose Fulbright Verein, a Swiss verein, helps coordinate the activities of Norton Rose Fulbright members but does not itself provide legal services to clients. Norton Rose Fulbright has offices in more than 50 cities worldwide, including London, Houston, New York, Toronto, Mexico City, Hong Kong, Sydney and Johannesburg. For more information, see nortonrosefulbright.com/legal-notices.