Linklaters has advised Actavis Group and a consortium of stakeholders, including  Novator, DB, Landisbanki, Straumir, on the sale of privately owned Actavis to Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for approximately €4.25bn, a deal marking the largest leveraged buyout transaction of the year (according to Mergermarket).

The deal will result in Watson becoming the third largest global generics company with anticipated revenue of approximately $8bn for 2012. 

This transaction, which primarily involved work across London and New York, highlights Linklaters’ ability to effectively field a multijurisdictional team.

The Linklaters team was led by private equity partner and co-head of global private equity sector, Ian Bagshaw, tax partner Elizabeth Conway and corporate partner Aisling Zarraga. The team was supported by London associate Christopher Boycott. The team involved lawyers from across the firm’s London, New York, Frankfurt, Luxembourg and Moscow offices.