King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has advised UK breakdown company AA on the sale of its Irish operations to a private equity buyer for £129.5m (€156.6m).
The FTSE 250 company will transfer AA Ireland to Carlyle Cardinal Ireland, a fund established by international buyout house Carlyle Group and Dublin-based Cardinal Capital to buy companies in Ireland.
KWM is advising regular client the AA, with a team led by corporate partner and former managing partner Rob Day.
Irish pair William Fry and A&L Goodbody have also landed roles. The former is acting for AA Ireland with a team led by corporate partner Stephen Keogh, while the latter is representing Carlyle Cardinal Ireland.
Commenting on the deal, Mark Millar, general counsel for the AA, said: “The ability of KWM and William Fry to field a multidisciplinary team was key to our being able to successfully arrange the separation of this business, which has been under common ownership for over a century.”
AA first announced the division was up for sale in May after it was approached by buyout groups about a potential takeover.
The transaction, which is subject to approval, is expected to complete in late July this year.
KWM’s mandate comes after the firm’s appointment as external legal adviser to the AA alongside Norton Rose Fulbright, in March last year.
The pair were appointed to the AA’s first corporate panel since it became a public company in 2014. The company decided against using Clifford Chance, the main corporate lawyer of its former parent company, as its principal adviser.
The panel win has led to KWM acting on several deals for the company, including the AA’s £1.14bn refinancing of elements of its existing debt package, and on its strategic relationship with the Bank of Ireland UK.
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
