Simmons & Simmons is advising Moody’s Corp on its recent acquisition of Dutch business information and analytics provider Bureau van Dijk.

Simmons & Simmons has advised the US credit ratings agency, a longstanding client, in relation to the employment law, pensions and incentives elements of the transaction across 25 countries, with the deal expected to be completed later this year.

"Many of our offices have worked with Moody’s for a long time now and it’s been great that so many of us around the network have been able to support them on this transaction", said Julian Taylor, partner and international head of the employment, pensions and incentives practice at Simmons & Simmons.

The deal represents an estimated €2bn in profit for private equity firm EQT, which bought Bureau van Dijk in 2014 for €1bn.

Bureau van Dijk generated revenues of €258 million in 2016. Its Orbis database provides information on 220 million private companies globally including corporate structures, beneficial ownership and deal information.

The Simmons & Simmons team is led by head of employment, Julian Taylor, with support from Roisin Murphy and Emma Houlden (UK), Joris Oster (Netherlands), Fiona Loughrey (Asia), James Coleman (Dubai), Marie-Helénè Jacquemin and Jonas van Campenhout (Belgium), Laurence Renard (France), Eduardo Peñacoba (Spain), Davide Sportelli (Italy) and Verena Braeckeler-Kogel (Germany). Pensions advice is provided by partner Danny Tsang with support from Ed Smith and Tair Hussain.