Kirkland & Ellis LLP Advises on Three Major European Deals
Kirkland & Ellis International LLP led three of the largest recent publicly announced private equity deals in Europe. The Firm represents clients Apollo Global Management LLC, TowerBrook Capital, York Capital and Golden Gate Capital in the deals, all of which were announced last week.
"We are very pleased to assist our private equity clients with these significant and complex deals," said James Learner, partner in the London office. "In this challenging economic climate, it is especially encouraging to achieve such positive results."
"These deals demonstrate our commitment to providing clients with quality solutions in this environment with experienced lawyers in corporate, restructuring, finance, tax and other areas working seamlessly across our offices in the United States and Europe," said Erik Dahl, partner in the Munich and London offices.
Consortium of Lenders Acquire Control of Monier Group
Kirkland advised a consortium of senior lenders led by Apollo Management International LLP, TowerBrook Capital Partners LP and York Capital Management in connection with the lender-led restructuring of the Monier Group. Monier, the world's leading provider of building materials for pitched roofs and chimney systems, is currently owned by funds under the management of French private equity firm PAI partners LLP. Upon completion of the agreed financial restructuring, participating lenders will control Monier and become the new shareholders, with Apollo, TowerBrook and York becoming the largest shareholders post-restructuring. The terms of the financial restructuring also include a reduction in cash pay debt by more than half and a commitment from the consortium and other senior lenders to provide a new €150 million credit line to the group.
The Kirkland team was led by corporate partner Erik Dahl, finance partner Neel Sachdev, and restructuring partners Dr. Leo Plank and Paul Atherton, and included lawyers from the London, Munich, Chicago and New York offices.
Apollo Global Management Invests in Infineon
Kirkland advised Apollo Global Management LLC in connection with Infineon Technologies AG's planned rights offering. Infineon plans to launch rights offering of up to 337 million shares with a subscription price of €2.15 per share. Apollo agreed to backstop the rights offering and committed to acquire up to 326 million of the new shares not subscribed for by existing shareholders, up to a maximum shareholding of 30 percent minus one share of Infineon's share capital after implementation of the rights offering, and subject to achieving a minimum participation of 15 percent of Infineon's share capital after implementation of the rights offering. Apollo's investment is subject to regulatory approvals.
The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Erik Dahl, Volker Kullmann, Dr. Christian Zuleger and Dr. Björn Holland, and included lawyers in London, Munich, Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.
Golden Gate Capital Acquires Infineon's Wireline Communications
Kirkland advised Golden Gate Capital in its agreement to purchase Infineon's Wireline Communications business for €250 million. The deal was announced on July 7 and is expected to close in autumn of 2009.
Partners Jeffrey Hammes, Stephen Oetgen, Frank Becker, John Lynn, Sacha Lürken, Dr. Jörn Schnigula and Christopher Field led the team, which also included lawyers from the London, Munich, Chicago, New York and San Francisco offices.
About Kirkland & Ellis International LLP
Kirkland & Ellis International LLP is a 1,500-attorney law firm representing global clients in complex corporate and tax, restructuring, litigation, dispute resolution and arbitration, and intellectual property and technology matters. The Firm has offices in London, Munich, Chicago, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
