International law firm Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised leading European industrial supplies distributor IPH Group (“IPH”) on the acquisition of Buenaventura Giner S.A (“Buenaventura Giner”), Spain’s leading supplier in the sector.

With a turnover of €1bn+, IHP supplies clients throughout Europe with leading brands such as Zitec and Kistenpfennig in Germany, Orexad in France, Minetti in Italy and Biesheuvel Techniek in the Netherlands.

King & Wood Mallesons has advised Quadrant Private Equity on its acquisition of Fitness First Australia from Oaktree Capital Management.
 
This is Quadrant’s third major investment in the health and fitness sector following its acquisitions of Jetts Fitness last week and Goodlife Health Clubs last month, on which KWM also advised.
 

Eversheds Bitans has advised Scorpio Services Holding Limited on its acquisition of a 60% stake in SIA Astor Shipmanagement, a Latvia based company providing crewing services for different types of vessels world-wide. The identity of the seller was not disclosed.

The U.S. based Scorpio Services Holding Limited provides administrative services which include accounting, legal compliance, financial, and information technology services. Moreover, through its subsidiaries, the company provides technical and commercial vessel management services.

DLA Piper advised the private equity fund EQT VII and its portfolio company Kuoni GTA on the acquisition of the hotel distribution and destination management provider MTS Globe. The transaction was signed on 9 September 2016. The parties have agreed to keep the purchase price and contract details confidential. The transaction is subject to the approval by the relevant competition authorities.

International law firm Taylor Wessing has advised News Corporation and News Corp UK & Ireland on its successful acquisition of talkSPORT owner, Wireless Group plc, for £220.3 million.

Wireless is a media group operating in the UK and Ireland primarily focused on radio broadcasting. The business has valuable media brands that include talkSPORT, the leading sports radio network in the UK, and a wider portfolio of media assets with a significant presence and audience engagement, both digitally and internationally.

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised J.P. Morgan Securities plc on the acquisition by global private equity firm Lone Star of Dutch nationalised and state-owned real estate bank Propertize from the State of the Netherlands.

Orrick’s Paris team recently advised long-time client Teads on its acquisition of Brainient, one of the leading ad-tech companies in Europe.

Teads, founded in 2011, is the inventor of native video advertising and the leading “outstream” video marketplace (video ads that reside outside of video content). Orrick advised Teads on its €24 million financing operation in 2014. We also advised Teads on its earlier merger with Ebuzzing.

The Swedish buyout fund acquires Plantasjen from Apax for 1.2 billion kroner.

The team assisting Ratos has been led by Anders Arnkværn, Henrik Braavold Johansen and Solveig Fagerheim Bugge.

Plantasjen is the Nordic region's leading chain for sales of plants and gardening accessories and has 124 stores in the Nordic countries and approximately 1,200 employees.

The purchase price for all the shares in Plantasjen AS corresponds to an enterprise value of approximately NOK 2.9 billion kroner.

On September 20, 2016, Kunststoff Schwanden AG announced that Bregal Unternehmerkapital is acquiring a major stake in the successful manufacturer of complex plastic parts and components. As part of the succession plan, the previous owner, Albert Kiener, will still play a key role in the company. André Bermann (CEO) and Martin Züger (CFO) will acquire shares in Kunststoff Schwanden AG as well. They will both remain in their respective management roles. Furthermore, the participation of other members of senior management is expected.

CMA Research AB and Markör Marknad & Kommunikation AB are joining forces to create a market leading provider of research services in Sweden with a mutual vision to develop and professionalise the industry. In connection with this, Valedo Partners Fund II AB  enters as a new majority shareholder in partnership with previous owners, the board and key employees.

Hannes Snellman acted as counsel to Valedo. Our core team included: Jan Jensen, Shoan Panahi, David Riihonen, Sebastian Wallin, Fredrik Madani, Klara Kjellberg and Stina Eriksson.