Clifford Chance corporate partner Michael Bates has advised First Aqua on its bid for Southern Water. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer corporate partner Martin Nelson-Jones led the team advising Southern Water. Newly-formed First Aqua bought the company for a cash consideration of £1.9bn including the repayment of £735m of intra-group loans to vendor Scottish Power. First Aqua will assume net external debt of £149.1m.
Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Norton Rose have advised Legal and General Ventures and Royal Bank Private Equity on a £246.6m bid for French casino operator Groupe Moliflor Loisirs. Corporate partners Michel Frieh and Bertrand Pellet led the teams for the two respective firms. Ashurst Morris Crisp partner Thomas Forschbach advised the target. PPM Ventures, a UK-based venture capital company, sold the target company.
