Underlining our position as one of Ireland’s leading corporate law firms, William Fry has advised on two of Finance Dublin Magazine’s Deals of the Year 2011.
The Firm advised Ardagh Glass Group plc on its sale of US$2,352 million (€1,704 million) of notes in September 2010. The proceeds of the deal enabled Ardagh to fund the acquisition of metal packaging group Impress Coöperatieve UA from the private equity firm, Doughty Hanson & Co. This deal was the winner of the “Debt Securities Notes Deal of the Year Award”.
Speaking on the Ardagh deal, David Fitzgibbon, Corporate Partner at William Fry, said: “In a difficult marketplace, this transaction had to be effected in a short window to ensure that Ardagh was in a position to proceed with the Impress Packaging acquisition and effect any related refinancing. The issue of the notes and the related escrow arrangements involved a series of interlinked steps which had to work alongside the corporate transaction. The issue of secured notes as part of the offering increased the level of complexity involved in the offering and required the input of counsel from almost every jurisdiction in Europe. We were proud to have the opportunity to work with Ardagh on such a complex and novel offering.”
William Fry also advised ESB on its acquisition of Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) from the Viridian Group. The transaction brought about the consolidation of the ownership of the electricity transmission and distribution network on the island of Ireland into a single entity serving the all-island Single Electricity Market. This deal won the “Mergers and Acquisitions Deal of the Year Award”.
Bryan Bourke, Head of Corporate at William Fry, who led our team on the transaction said: “The ESB acquisition of NIE, which saw ESB acquire the Northern Ireland electricity transmission and distribution grid, was a hugely significant and strategic transaction for ESB. It is probably the ESB’s largest acquisition, as well as being the biggest acquisition in the semi-state sector in 2010.”
