Ashurst has advised Charterhouse Capital Partners in relation to an exclusive agreement signed with Unibail-Rodamco and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris Ile-de-France on the acquisition of a 50% stake in Comexposium held by Unibail-Rodamco. The signing of the deal, which remains subject to a process of employee consultation and to the approval of the relevant competition authorities, should be finalised over the course of the second quarter of 2015. This deal values Comexposium at €550m. Charterhouse will retain the majority of voting rights within Comexposium after the deal with CCIR keeping 49%.

Comexposium, the fourth largest global event organiser, is a subsidiary of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris Ile-de-France and the group Unibail-Rodamco. The group has an international presence in 10 countries and is involved in 114 BtoC and BtoB events, covering 17 sectors of activity. Every year, the group attracts 38.000 exhibitors of which 40% are international and 3.5 million visitors including 350.000 foreign visitors.

The Ashurst team consisted of partner Nicolas Barberis, assisted by counsel Anne Reffay and associates Julien Rebibo, Sébastien Ouvry and Delphin Boucher on the corporate aspects. The team also included Laurent Mabilat, partner, assisted by Marie Roche and Thomas Jeannin, associates, for the finance aspects. Regarding the competition aspects of the transaction, the team consisted of Christophe Lemaire, partner and Sarah Chikh, associate.