Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Severn Trent Plc, a FTSE-100 company which provides and treats water and waste water in the UK and internationally, on the sale of its water purification business to its joint venture partner Industrie De Nora SpA, a private multinational company headquartered in Italy.
Through its operations in the USA, Europe and Asia, the water purification business is a leader in the water treatment products industry focused on electrochlorination, disinfection and filtration. The sale of the water purification business will allow Severn Trent to focus on its core businesses in water and waste water services.
London-based corporate partner Robert Moore led the Herbert Smith Freehills team, assisted by Nancy Roberts, Charlotte Courtney and Jamie McLaren. The transaction also involved other offices including Beijing, Singapore, Madrid and Dubai. In addition to the corporate team, lawyers from the firm's other practice areas including tax, intellectual property, employment, pensions, environment, TMT, real estate and competition also provided specialist advice.
Robert commented:
"We have a longstanding relationship with Severn Trent and it has been great to work closely with their in-house team. This deal is another example of our leading capability in advising clients on cross-border transactions."
The sale is expected to complete on or around 30 June 2015.
EY Corporate Finance acted as sole financial adviser to Severn Trent. Chiomenti Studio Legale advised on Italian law and Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP advised on US law.
Herbert Smith Freehills ranked #2 in cross-border deals by volume globally in the first quarter of 2015 according to Bloomberg. In the UK, it was the best performer in terms of increase in market share and came 2nd in both Bloomberg's and Thomson Reuters' league tables by deal value. It also performed strongly in Europe and was 5th in Bloomberg and 6th in Thomson Reuters by deal value. The firm was ranked 1st in Spain in Thomson Reuters, with its lead role in Telefónica's £10.25 billion sale of O2 UK to Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, which topped the EMEA deal tables in Q1 2015.
Herbert Smith Freehills has advised long-standing client Severn Trent on its strategic and substantive M&A work for some time, with Head of M&A Stephen Wilkinson as the principal relationship partner. He advised the group on its acquisition of RMC Group’s Hales Waste business in 2004 and the demerger of Biffa in 2006. In 2013, Stephen and Robert led the team in advising Severn Trent on a potential bid from a Canadian, Kuwaiti and UK consortium valuing the target at £5.3 billion.
