White & Case Advises on Allianz Capital Partners' Acquisition of Selecta
Successful Closing Following Competitive Auction
London, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Paris,
July 10, 2007 ... White & Case acted for Allianz Capital Partners GmbH ("ACP"), the private equity arm of German insurance giant Allianz, in its £772.5 million acquisition of pan-European vending business Selecta from Compass Group PLC, the world's largest catering group.
Selecta is Europe's biggest food vending machine operator. It has operations in 22 European countries, including Britain, generating revenues last year of £476 million and operating profits of £45 million.
"This is a tremendous result for ACP following a keenly contested auction and demonstrates some of the competitive advantages which can be achieved through careful acquisition structuring," said Greg Hammond, a partner in White & Case's Corporate practice in London.
"Levels of M&A activity in Europe continue to soar, fuelled by a buoyant market for private equity buyouts. This year four of the top five deals globally have been in Europe, illustrating the strength of the M&A market in this region," added Claus Wecker, a partner in the Firm's Corporate practice in Düsseldorf.
White & Case partners Greg Hammond and Claus Wecker, based in London and Düsseldorf respectively, led the team acting for ACP. They were assisted by counsel Michelle Brady in London, local partners Dr. Heiko Wilde and Dr. Christoph Kuzaj in Düsseldorf and a team of over 15 lawyers from the Firm's offices in London, Düsseldorf and Paris. Anne Force, a local partner in the Firm's Frankfurt office, led for ACP on the debt financing aspects of the transaction.
White & Case's Corporate practice in London has had a strong start to the year having signed 18 deals worth more than $18.5 billion in the last six months. Highlights of this work include acting on Weather Investments' €3.4 billion purchase of Greek mobile operator TIM Hellas and advising airport operator BAA plc on the sale of its 75 percent minus one share stake in Budapest Airport to a consortium led by Hochtief AirPort GmbH for £1.309 billion.
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