International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised private equity firm Hellman & Friedman on its agreement to acquire Wood Mackenzie, the Edinburgh-based energy and mining research and consultancy business, from its current owners Charterhouse Capital Partners and management. The transaction values Wood Mackenzie at approximately £1.1bn. Wood Mackenzie management and Charterhouse are both reinvesting part of their proceeds, and taking minority stakes in the Hellman & Friedman acquisition structure.
Corporate partner Tim Wilmot commented, ‘Wood Mackenzie is an exciting business with great international growth prospects. Through a multidisciplinary Freshfields team, working closely with Stuart Banks, Hellman & Friedman’s European general counsel, I am confident that we have delivered a strong platform from which the business can go from strength to strength’.
The Freshfieds team was led by corporate partner Tim Wilmot, and comprised partners David Sonter (corporate), Alastair Chapman (competition), Colin Hargreaves (Tax), Avril Martindale (IP/IT), Nicholas Squire (Employment) and Mark Wheelhouse (Real Estate). They were assisted by senior associates Richard Jones (corporate), Paul Concannon (Tax), Bryony Roberts and Giles Pratt (IP/IT) and associates Alon Gordon, Nicholas Jones, Anand Pillai and Felix Wong (corporate), George Richards (competition), Sophie Bragg (Employment), Ruth Kelly and Jo Greenberg (IP/IT) and Katie Lyons (Real Estate).
