Hammonds has scored a starring role on a £1bn deal — advising Illinois Tool Works (ITW) on its takeover bid for kitchen equipment manufacturer Enodis.
The firm is fielding a team led by corporate partners Giles Distin (pictured) and Jane Haxby on the £1.03bn acquisition, acting alongside Kirkland & Ellis and Ropes & Gray, which are providing US advice on the deal.
Hammonds has advised ITW on various UK deals during the past 10 years but this marks the UK law firm’s biggest transaction for the company to date.
Ashurst is advising long-standing client Enodis, with City corporate partners Richard Gubbins and Anthony Clare leading.
Gubbins has advised Enodis on a number of deals in the past, including its 2005 sale of its Vent Master division to Halton Group.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised UBS as ITW’s financial adviser, while Latham & Watkins advised the Swiss lender as arranger of the bank financing.
Distin told Legal Week: “We have worked on a number of deals for ITW but never on a deal this sizeable. It is great to be involved in their largest UK takeover to date.”
ITW’s offer usurps a previous bid by US-based The Manitowoc Company announced last month, which valued Enodis at £955m. The board has subsequently recommended ITW’s higher bid.
Linklaters was instructed by industrial giant Manitowoc on its bid, with corporate partner Richard Godden taking the helm. The City giant worked alongside US firm Foley & Lardner on the transaction, with Foley providing US advice through Milwaukee-based M&A partner Jay Rothman.
Manitowoc had previously made an £892m takeover attempt for the company in 2006, which ultimately collapsed due to concerns that it would give Manitowoc too large a share of certain areas of the global kitchen equipment market.
ITW manufactures commercial food equipment as well as industrial packaging, construction products and electronics.
Enodis makes kitchen equipment for clients including McDonald’s and Starbucks and has manufacturing facilities in North America, the UK, Europe and Asia.
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