International law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has advised US-listed ARRIS Group, Inc. a global innovator in IP, video and broadband technology, on its £1.4 billion takeover of Pace plc, a UK-based leading technology solutions provider in the PayTV and broadband service industries.
The deal will result in a new holding company for the combined group, which will be incorporated in the UK and listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The combined group is expected to have 2014 pro forma revenues of approximately US$8 billion and will employ more than 8,500 people globally in over 15 countries.
The transaction is expected to close in late 2015 after the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including ARRIS and Pace shareholder approval and regulatory approvals.
This is the first major M&A transaction on which Herbert Smith Freehills has been instructed by ARRIS.
The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by London corporate partners Gavin Davies, Alex Kay and Mark Bardell, supported by senior associates Caroline Rae and Brian O’Malley.
Herbert Smith Freehills also had a leading role in other recent headline deals including TSB’s £1.7 billion takeover by Banco Sabadell, Telefónica’s £10.25 billion sale of O2 to Hutchinson Whampoa (in which Gavin Davies was a lead partner), Sky’s £6.8 billion acquisition of Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland and Moorfield’s £1 billion sale of its diversified investment portfolio (in which Alex Kay was a lead partner).
Gavin Davies commented:
“We are delighted to be representing ARRIS on this major transaction. It is another great transaction for our UK M&A team, which has recently been working on some of the most significant deals in the market.”
Evercore was the financial adviser to ARRIS and J.P. Morgan Cazenove was the financial adviser to Pace. Travers Smith was the legal adviser to Pace. Troutman Sanders and Hogan Lovells advised ARRIS on the US law aspects and competition aspects respectively.
Source: www.herbertsmithfreehills.com
