Stephenson Harwood LLP has advised European powered access market leader Lavendon Group PLC on its contested takeover by French group Loxam.

Lavendon, a longstanding client of Stephenson Harwood, was subject to several competing takeover offers from Loxam and TVH Group, with Loxam, the largest supplier of aerial platforms and powered access units in Europe, succeeding against the Belgian TVH Group. The initial announced offer from TVH Group was 205p per Lavendon share. The final successful bid by Loxam was 270p per share, a premium of almost 100% over Lavendon's pre-bid share price. The deal gave Lavendon an enterprise value in excess of £600 million.

The cross practice deal team was led by partner Andrew Edge, head of Stephenson Harwood's corporate practice, who has advised Lavendon for the past 20 years. Andrew was supported by partners Barbara Allen (employee benefits) and Marta Garcia (competition), senior associates Anika Chandra (employee benefits) and Sean Crowley (finance), associates Mohammed Basama and Karen Lau (corporate), Simon Albert (competition) and trainee Kenan Ceylan.