Kirkland & Ellis Represents Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan on Acquisition of Bridon Limited

Kirkland & Ellis International LLP advised Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Teachers) on the £365 million acquisition of Bridon Limited, a UK-headquartered designer and manufacturer of specialist cables, ties and wires for the mining, construction and energy sectors. The acquisition of Bridon from Melrose PLC was led by Teachers’ private equity investment division, Teachers’ Private Capital (TPC).

Bridon is a global technology leader for demanding rope applications. Bridon designs and manufactures a comprehensive range of lifting and stabilising solutions for applications in wire rope, fibre rope, steel wire and strand. The company services global customers in the oil & gas, mining, industrial, marine and infrastructure sectors. For the year ended 31 December 2013, Bridon recorded sales of £266.4 million, headline EBITDA of £41.6 million and headline operating profit of £34.1 million.

A syndicate of lending institutions has committed to provide acquisition financing in the form of first and second lien "Yankee" loans.

The cross-border Kirkland team was led by London-based corporate partners Gavin Gordon and Justin Hutchinson, New York and London-based finance partners Jay Ptashek, Stephen Lucas, David Tarr and Sam Norris, tax partners Jane Scobie and Rachel Cantor and antitrust partner Sarah Jordan.

Melrose Plc were represented by a team from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP led by Adam Signy, and Bridon management were advised by a team from Travers Smith LLP led by Chris Hale.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is a 1,600-attorney law firm representing global clients in complex corporate, restructuring, tax, litigation and dispute resolution/arbitration, and intellectual property and technology matters. The Firm has offices in London, Beijing, Chicago, Hong Kong, Houston Los Angeles, Munich, New York, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Shanghai and Washington, D.C.