Recent Transactions

Advising Marley Spoon SE, an ASX listed global subscription-based meal kit provider, on its business combination agreement with 468 SPAC II, simultaneous capital raising and amendment to existing debt facilities

Advising Parthenon Capital, a financial services & technology focused private equity firm, on its acquisition of Global Payment’s Gaming Services Division, a leading provider of on-site and digital payment processing services to companies in the gaming industry, for $415mm

Advised Whirlpool Corporation on its announced acquisition of InSinkErator, the world’s largest manufacturer of food waste disposers and instant hot water dispensers for home and commercial use from Emerson Electric for cash consideration of $3.0 billion

Advising Dama Financial, the nation’s largest provider of access to banking and payment solutions for the cannabis industry, on its acquisition of GrowFlow Corp, a leading business management and compliance software platform for cannabis retailers, cultivators, processors, and distributors

Advised Explorer Investments on the sale of Grupo Totalmédia, the leading specialist logistics player in Iberia operating in two-man home delivery, assembly and installation of furniture, heavy goods and groceries as well as the distribution of autoparts and leaflets

Advising Covéa, a leading French mutual insurance company, on the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary, CSE Insurance group, to Porch Group

Advising the Board of Directors of Score Media and Gaming (“theScore”), a leading digital media and sports betting and technology company, regarding the acquisition of theScore by Penn National Gaming

Advised Siris Capital, a private equity firm focused on the technology sector, on its acquisition of American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, a leading technology-enabled full service professional services firm

Advising Sanofi, a leading global player in the Consumer Healthcare market, on the divestiture of a portfolio of 16 European Consumer Healthcare brands to STADA, a German pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare company owned by Bain Capital and Cinven

Advised Siris Capital, a private equity firm focused on the technology sector, on its recommended 180p cash offer for Equiniti Group PLC, a technology-led services and payments specialist

Advised Biogix, Inc., a leader in the development, research and distribution of clinically tested menopause and perimenopause supplements in the U.S. under the flagship brand Amberen, on its sale to Alliance Pharma plc

Advised the Special Committee of Brookfield Property Partners L.P., one of the world’s premier commercial real estate companies, on its repurchase of up to $890 million of publicly held units, funded with an equity investment from Brookfield Asset Management and its affiliates

Advised Inchcape, a leading global independent multi-brand automotive distributor, on its acquisition of the Mercedes-Benz passenger car and private vans distribution operations in Colombia from Daimler Colombia

Advising IFF, a global leader in flavors and fragrances, on its merger with DuPont’s Nutrition & Biosciences Division, creating a clear global leader in the specialty ingredients sector

Advised WH Smith PLC, one of the UK’s leading retailers, on the acquisition of Marshall Retail Group, a market leading US travel retailer with operations across airport, resort and tourist locations, from Brentwood Associates, a consumer-focused private equity firm

Advised TT International, a leading independent asset management firm focused on managing high alpha, high conviction active management strategies for institutional investors, on its sale to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc.

Advised Apax Partners, a global investment firm, on the sale of Grupo Electro Stocks, a leading Spanish distributor of electrical materials, to the Electrical Wholesale business unit within the Würth Group, a global leader in the distribution of assembling and fastening materials

Advised T5 Data Centers, a leading national data center owner and operator, on the creation of a fully integrated platform with QuadReal Property Group to develop, acquire and operate data centers via a $1.0 billion investment from QuadReal

Advised The Laundress Inc., a laundry and home cleaning products brand, on its sale to Unilever, a British-Dutch consumer goods company

Advised Canopy Growth, a leading diversified cannabis company, on its acquisition of Storz & Bickel, a premium manufacturer of vaporization devices

Advised Finaccess Capital, an investment company with a strong presence in the casual dining and quick service restaurant sector, on its 75% partial takeover of Restaurant Brands New Zealand, a corporate franchisee specialising in managing multi-site branded food retail chains (with brands consisting of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Carl’s Jr.)

Advised Redbubble, a global online independent artist community and marketplace, on the acquisition of TeePublic, a similar online platform, and associated A$61 million equity raising

Advised Canopy Growth on a C$5bn investment by Constellation Brands. As consideration for the investment, Constellation received newly issued Canopy common shares and common share purchase warrants

Advised CatchMark Timber Trust, Inc. on its purchase of 1.1 million acres of East Texas timberlands from Campbell Global

Advised and acted as sponsor to GlaxoSmithKline plc, the UK’s leading pharmaceutical company, on the buyout of Novartis’ 36.5% stake in their Consumer Health Joint Venture

Advised Julius Bär Group Ltd., a leading Swiss private banking group, on its 95% acquisition of Reliance Group, one of the largest independent Brazilian wealth management firms with client assets of approximately BRL 17 billion (USD 5.3 billion)

Advised Total System Services, a provider of payment processing, merchant services and related payment services, on acquiring Cayan, a payment technology company focused on integrated solutions and merchant acquiring

Advised  L.L.Bean Inc. on a strategic alliance relating to its credit card business with Citibank, N.A.

Advised the Special Committee of Brookfield Canada Office Properties, Canada’s pre-eminent office real estate investment trust, on its go private transaction with Brookfield Property Partners L.P.

Advised First Republic Bank, a provider of private banking, private business banking and private wealth management services, on the acquisition of Gradifi, a Boston-based technology and service platform used by employers to make direct contributions to employees’ student loans

Advised IFF, one of the world’s largest flavors and fragrances businesses, on the acquisition of Fragrance Resources Group, a family-owned fragrance company headquartered in Switzerland

Advised Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc., a 75% owner and operator of the largest and most visited mountain resort in North America, on its sale to Vail Resorts, Inc.

Advised Minneapolis-based US Bancorp, the fifth largest commercial bank in the United States, and the parent company of Elavon, Inc., in the sale of its 50.1 percent majority stake in São Paulo-based, Elavon do Brasil to Stone Pagamentos, a local market, privately-held merchant acquirer.

Advised the National Bank of Greece SA, the leading bank in Greece by deposits and total assets, on the disposal of 100% of its interests in eleven funds managed by NBGI Private Equity. The management responsibility of the funds and underlying investments will continue to be performed by the current management team along with other persons appointed by the buyers, under a new management vehicle created expressly for this purpose

Advised Heartland Payment Systems, Inc., one of the nation’s largest payment companies, on its sale to Global Payments Inc., a leading worldwide provider of payment technology services

Provided Fairness Opinion to the Transaction Committee of the Board of Directors of New Senior Investment Group, a $2.5 billion publicly traded REIT, on its acquisition of a 28-property portfolio from Holiday Retirement, one of the largest private operators of senior housing in the US

Advised The Toronto-Dominion Bank Group on its acquisition of Nordstrom, Inc.’s credit card assets

Advised Softcard, a joint venture of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile focused on mobile payments and commerce, on the sale of certain assets to Google

Advised the Independent Committee of the Board of Directors of Voya Financial, Inc. in connection with Voya Financial, Inc.’s repurchase of 4.5mm shares (aggregate repurchase of $175mm) from ING Groep N.V.

Advised the Independent Committee of the Board of Directors of Voya Financial, Inc. in connection with Voya Financial, Inc.’s repurchase of 7.7mm shares (aggregate repurchase of $300mm) from ING Groep N.V.

Advised LSEG on the proposed acquisition of Frank Russell Company, the number one provider of benchmarks to US-focused equity funds and a leading provider of multi-asset class investment solutions, from Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, including acting as Joint Sponsor to LSEG on its $1.6 billion rights issue

Advised MGM Resorts International on the formation of a joint venture hotel management company with the Hakkasan Group called MGM Hakkasan Hospitality that will design, develop and manage luxury non-gaming hotels worldwide

Advised the Independent Committee of the Board of Directors of ING US, Inc. in connection with ING U.S., Inc’s repurchase of 7.2mm shares (aggregate repurchase of $250mm) from ING Groep N.V.

Advised the Board of Directors of Safeway Inc., a leading food and drug retailer, on its acquisition by Albertsons

Advised Tesco plc, a listed FTSE 100 retailer, on the sale of a substantive part of Fresh & Easy’s operating business to YFE Holdings, Inc, an affiliate of The Yucaipa Companies, LLC

Advised Fifth Street Finance Corp., a specialty finance company with approximately $2 billion of assets under management, on the acquisition of Healthcare Finance Group, LLC, a specialty lender providing asset-based lending and term loan products to the healthcare industry

Advised the Special Transaction Committee of the Board of Morgans Hotel Group on the transfer of its ownership interests in Delano South Beach and The Light Group to The Yucaipa Companies in exchange for the cancellation of certain securities held by Yucaipa (debt, preferred stock and warrants) together with a $100 million rights offering backstopped by Yucaipa

Advised the United States Department of the Treasury (“UST”) on the full reduction of its 92% ownership stake in the insurer through numerous Secondary Public Offering Transactions

Advised the Special Committee of the Conflicts Committee of the Board of Directors of Athene Holding Ltd. in connection with the purchase of non-cash investment assets of AP Alternative Assets L.P.

Advised The Hartford, a leading provider of insurance and wealth management services, on the divestiture of its Individual Life Insurance Business to Prudential Financial, Inc.

Provided fairness opinion to the Executive Management Board of WMF in connection with the voluntary public takeover offer by Finedining Capital GmbH, a holding company in the possession of funds managed by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P.

Advised Merlin Securities LLC, a leading prime brokerage company in the US, on its sale to Wells Fargo

Advised Boyd Gaming Corporation, a leading gaming operator in Nevada, the Midwest and South, on the acquisition of Imperial Palace Casino Resort and Spa in Biloxi, Mississippi

Advised AXA Private Equity, a leading European diversified private equity firm, on its acquisition of a $1.7 billion portfolio of limited partnership interests in private equity buyout funds and a portfolio of direct stakes in companies from Citigroup

Advised Close Brothers plc, an independent financial services group, on the sale of its Cayman based offshore business to Intertrust Group Holdings SA

Advised the Special Committee of Wesco Financial Corporation in connection with Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s proposal to acquire the remaining 19.9% of the shares of Wesco’s common stock that it does not presently own

Advised Travelers, the largest listed property and casualty insurance company in the U.S., on the acquisition of a ~43% stake in J. Malucelli Participacao em Seguros E Resseguros, the leading surety insurance company in Brazil, through the issue of new common shares (with an option to increase to 49.9% within 18 months)

Private Label Credit Card Business
Advised Kohl’s Corporation on a strategic alliance relating to its private label credit card business with Capital One Financial Corporation

Advised Primerica Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Citigroup Inc., on a series of transactions, including the concurrent sale of a minority stake to Warburg Pincus and initial public offering

Advised Wells Fargo on the acquisition of Prudential Financial’s noncontrolling interest in their retail brokerage Joint Venture

Advised the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Barnes & Noble, Inc., the world’s largest bookseller, on its acquisition of Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, Inc.

Advised Validus Holdings, Ltd., a leading Bermuda-based reinsurer, on its offer to acquire IPC Holdings, Ltd.

Advised the special committee of the board of directors in connection with its merger with Triarc Companies, Inc., the operator of the Arby’s franchise. The combined systems will have approximately 10,000 restaurant units and pro forma annual system sales of approximately $12.5 billion, positioning it as the nation’s third largest quick service restaurant company

Advised the Kogan Family on the sale of Oakland Mall, a regional shopping mall in Troy, Michigan anchored by JC Penney, Sears and Macy's

Advised American Financial Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust that acquires properties from and leases properties to regulated financial institutions, on its sale to Gramercy Capital Corp., a commercial real estate specialty finance company

Sole advisor to IHOP Corp., the fastest growing family dining concept in the US, on its acquisition of Applebee's

Acted as sole financial adviser to Ceridian Corporation, an information services provider to the human resource, transportation and retail markets, on its sale to Thomas H. Lee Partners and Fidelity National Financial

Advised Crescent Real Estate Equities Company, a REIT holding a diversified portfolio of office properties, hotels and resorts and luxury residential developments on its sale to Morgan Stanley Real Estate

Advised Alliance Boots plc, the leading international pharmacy-led health and beauty group, on a proposal regarding an offer for the company from a consortium comprising of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Ltd. and Stefano Pessina

Advised Aton Capital Group, the independent Russian investment bank, on the sale of its Institutional Business to Bank Austria Creditanstalt (part of the UniCredit Group)

Advised Visa USA in its announced plans to merge with Visa Canada and Visa International to form Visa Inc., a new public global corporation

Advised Republic Companies Group, Inc., a regional provider of personal and commercial property and casualty insurance products

(25.1% stake)
Advised The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc., the largest electronic equity securities market in the United States, on the acquisition of a 25.1% stake in London Stock Exchange plc

Advised Ibbotson Associates on its sale to Morningstar Inc. for $83 million

Acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Refco Inc. in connection with its Chapter 11 proceedings which included the sale of substantially all of the assets of Refco's regulated commodities futures business to Man Financial for $1.2 billion

Advised the special committee of 7-Eleven, Inc. in connection with its evaluation of an unsolicited tender offer commenced by Seven-Eleven Japan Co., Ltd

Provided financial advisory services and a fairness opinion to Archipelago Holdings, Inc. in its definitive merger agreement with the NYSE to create the NYSE Group, Inc