Ropes & Gray Guides More than $20B in Private Equity Transactions on Four Continents in Two Weeks

Ropes & Gray’s attorneys have announced or closed transactions of global significance totaling more than $20 billion on four continents in two weeks —and received “Innovative Lawyers” recognition from the Financial Times. The milestones demonstrate the firm’s exceptional international reach on significant transactions, including across Asia, Latin America and Europe.

“From London and Tokyo to Hong Kong and into Latin America, our cross-practice teams have reached milestones in headline-making, highly complex, private equity-backed transactions involving big global names: Bain Capital, Toshiba, Alibaba, Advent International, Walmart and more,” said Will Shields, co-chair of Ropes & Gray’s global private equity practice.

“Our results reaffirm that our practice excels in handling an array of diverse clients through their biggest challenges,” said David Blittner, who co-chairs the firm’s private equity practice with Shields.

The firm’s blockbuster transactions during this two-week timeframe include:

Bain Capital’s Acquisition of Toshiba’s Chip Business: Asia’s Largest Leveraged Buyout, Recognized by FT Innovative Lawyers

Closed on June 1, Ropes & Gray has advised long-term client Bain Capital on the sale by Toshiba Corp. of its semiconductor business to a group led by Bain Capital and includes Apple Inc., Seagate, Kingston, Hoya, Dell Technologies Inc. and SK Hynix. The transaction is valued at two trillion yen (approximately $18 billion). It is the largest leveraged buyout and private equity deal ever in Asia, and also among the most complex M&A transactions globally in 2017 and 2018. Ropes & Gray led the legal aspects of the transaction, including the acquisition negotiations, structuring, financing, antitrust and litigation analysis and settlement. The transaction was recognized in June 2018 by Financial Times Innovative Lawyers in its “Innovation in Legal Expertise: Managing Complexity and Scale” category.

Ropes & Gray Advises Advent International in its Acquisition of Walmart Brazil

Ropes & Gray advised Advent International, a global private equity firm, in its agreement to acquire a majority stake in Walmart Brazil. Under the terms of the agreement, Advent will hold 80 percent of Walmart Brazil, and Walmart Inc. will retain the remaining 20 percent upon the completion of the transaction. The transaction was announced on June 4 and is expected to close later this year, subject to regulatory approval in Brazil. Walmart Inc. is one of the world’s leading retailers. Having a presence in Brazil for the last 22 years, Walmart Brazil today has 438 stores in 18 states, with 55,000 associates.

UK’s largest-ever and Europe’s third largest-ever private equity led software buyout

Announced May 23, Ropes & Gray advised Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) on its £1.3bn joint partnership investment – alongside HG Saturn Fund – into IRIS, a leading provider of business-critical software and services to the UK accountancy, education and business market. The deal is the largest UK and third largest European private equity software buyout ever. Over 21,000 accountancy practices and more than 80,000 small and mid-sized businesses, corporates, and payroll bureaus rely on IRIS to run their business every day.

Ropes & Gray Represents Alibaba in $1.38 Billion Investment in ZTO Express

Ropes & Gray represented Alibaba Group, as lead consortium member, on its US$1.38 billion investment in ZTO Express for an approximately 10% equity stake in the company. The deal was announced on May 29 and is expected to close in early June, subject to customary closing conditions. ZTO Express is a NYSE-listed leading express delivery company in China and one of the largest express delivery companies globally.

Eight Additional PE Transactions Announced Over Two-Week Period

In addition to the transactions above, the firm announced the following deals over the May 21 to June 4 period for our clients:

• Partners Group in its acquisition of an ownership stake in GlobalLogic Inc.;
• TPG Growth in its investment in Resource Label Group, LLC;
• Aretex Capital Partners in its acquisition of Alerian;
• Avenue Capital Group in the £106.8m sale of Hawthorn Leisure Holdings;
• Gryphon Investors in its acquisition of Shermco Industries;
• TSG Consumer Partners in the purchase by TSG-backed Sunshine Fitness Growth Holdings, LLC of two franchise groups of Planet Fitness clubs;
• Kohlberg & Company in its acquisition of Sara Lee Frozen Bakery and Van’s businesses;
• Cathelco, a UK-based global manufacturer, in its sale to Evac.