Linklaters

The team’s experience includes transactions across the major jurisdictions of Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Asia.. Private equity houses, investors, funds, banks and financial institutions rely on Linklaters’ market leading global experts. Linklaters’ private equity lawyers advise clients at all stages, from establishing the fund and making investments, to ongoing portfolio assistance including restructuring advice, to exiting from those investments.

Clients benefit from market-leading funds, corporate M&A, restructuring and finance experts and their understanding of both the fund-raising, fund structuring, buyout and restructuring market. Linklaters helps clients structure the best investment methods for them, from helping sponsors position themselves to ensure they are the lead equity sponsor when looking at M&A situations to clubbing together to compete for distressed assets

Clients can also rely on the proven track record of lawyers from Linklaters’ pensions, IP and tax groups to support their private equity transactions. Sector experience covers the full spectrum of industry, from telecoms to utilities, leisure and retail.

In 2010, our Asian and European practices received the following awards:

Asia:

• IFLR Asia Private Equity Deal of the Year (the KKR and Affinity / Oriental Brewery deal in Korea led by Sang Lee)
• IFLR Asia Private Equity Team of the Year
  
  

Europe:

• IFLR Europe Private Equity Deal of the Year
• IFLR Private Equity Team of the Year
• Reuters / European Capital Venture Journal (EVCJ) Private Equity Law Firm of the Year
  
  

Recent private equity transactions include advising:

• Triton on the €850 million ($1.1 billion) acquisition of Ambea from 3i, the largest leveraged buyout in the Nordic region since July 2007
• Axa Private Equity on the sale of Spotless Group to BC Partners
• China Investment Corporation (CIC) on its minority investment into Apax Partners LLP and its commitment to Apax' most recent buyout fund through an innovative sidecar structure
• HgCapital on the recommended bid by for Goldshields Group plc
• Oaktree on the acquisition of Countrywide via a debt restructuring (Awarded ‘Deal of the Year’ at the IFLR European Awards)
• The Montagu Private Equity and GIP consortium on the £1.7bn P2P of Biffa
• Affinity Equity Partners on the US$1.8bn acquisition of Oriental Brewery by Affinity and KKR. This is the largest LBO in Asia since 2006
• The debtor and sponsor on the restructuring of Italian luxury yacht manufacturer Ferretti