Kirkland & Ellis International LLP Advises on £1.46 Billion Caudwell Communications Acquisition

Kirkland & Ellis International LLP announced today that it has advised private equity firm Providence Equity Partners on its joint acquisition of Caudwell Communications for £1.46 billion. Providence Equity Partners agreed the purchase late last Friday along with private equity fund manager Doughty Hanson. It is the largest UK deal Kirkland & Ellis has advised on to date.

The acquisition of Caudwell Communications includes the independent mobile phone retailer Phones4U, together with other telecommunication and distribution companies within the group. Providence Equity Partners will take the Phones4U retail chain, a business-to-business operation and an insurance division called Lifestyle Services. Doughty Hanson will purchase the logistics, handset distribution and mobile phones accessories divisions, including 20:20 Logistics and Dextra.

Providence Equity Partners is an international private investment firm specialising in equity investments in communications and media companies around the world. It has invested in more than 80 companies operating in over 20 countries.

Kirkland & Ellis advised the client on all corporate aspects of the deal, as well as on tax and intellectual property issues. The Kirkland team is being led by private equity partner Matthew Hurlock who commented: “The deal was agreed within a tight timeframe but we are very pleased to have helped achieve a successful acquisition agreement for Providence, especially since this was the first time we have advised the client from London.”

The Kirkland & Ellis team also included fellow partners Ian Taplin, Pierre Andre Dubois and John Baldry with assistance from associates Ross Allardice, Michel DeBolt, Christopher Field, Tai Hsia, Wen Liao, Jillian McKeown and Nicola Wiles.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is a 1,100-attorney law firm representing global clients in complex corporate, restructuring, tax, litigation, dispute resolution and arbitration, and intellectual property and technology matters. The Firm has offices in London, Munich, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.