Slaughter and May has set up Chinese walls in order to advise Spirit Group on its sale of hotel chain Premier Lodge, while also advising prospective bidder Whitbread on the competition aspects of its approach.
News of Slaughters’ dual role in the auction, which is expected to raise £500m, comes just days after the magic circle firm helped persuade the courts to prevent Fresh-fields from acting for Philip Green in the Marks & Spencer (M&S) takeover battle, despite the deployment of Chinese walls ( see above). However, Slaughters has pointed out that, unlike in Fresh-fields’ case, it received consent from both clients to deploy the information barriers.
