Nick Jones

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) advises The Co-operative Bank Holdings p.l.c (‘Co-operative Bank’), on its acquisition by Coventry Building Society. The Co-operative Bank provides a range of banking products and services to about 2.5m retail customers and c.94k small and medium sized enterprises (‘SME’). The Bank is committed to values and ethics in line with the principles of the co-operative movement. The Co-operative Bank is the only high street bank with a customer-led Ethical Policy, which gives customers a say in how their money is used. Coventry Building Society is an award-winning savings and mortgage provider, currently the 8th largest UK lender with mortgage balances at £50.3bn at the end of 2023. As a mutual, it is owned by and run for the benefit of its members (customers with an eligible savings account or mortgage). It has around 2 million members across the UK. The Co-operative Bank’s shareholders will be entitled to receive a total cash consideration of £780 million (subject to customary post-completion price adjustments). Of the total cash consideration, up to £125 million will be deferred for a period of 3 years from completion subject to the future performance of the Bank and the terms of the SPA. Completion is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals. The Freshfields team was led by partners Sundeep Kapila and Nick Jones, supported by senior associates Lisa Flanagan and Bethan Rodden. Financial regulatory advice was provided by counsel Mac Mackenzie, tax advice by partner Jill Gatehouse, employment advice by partner Holly Insley, pensions advice by partner Charles Magoffin, finance advice by partner Peter Allen and IP/IT advice by partner Richard Lister.

May 24

1 min

Freshfields is advising Rolls-Royce SMR Limited (Rolls-Royce SMR) on its partnership with CEZ Group (CEZ), which includes an c.20% equity investment by CEZ and a strategic partnership to enable the development, construction and deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs) in the UK and Czech Republic. The proposed transaction strengthens Rolls-Royce SMR’s ability to deploy SMR technology in Europe and globally, and puts CEZ, Rolls-Royce SMR and its existing shareholders at the forefront of SMR deployment. These efforts further support the UK and Europe to reach their ambitious net zero goals and contribute solutions to address the challenges of climate change. Subject to customary regulatory clearances and security assessments, the proposed transaction is expected to close during 2025. The Freshfields team is being led by partners Samira Afrasiabi, Vanessa Jakovich and Nick Jones and senior associate Marc McCaughey. Regulatory advice is being provided by partner Thomas McGrath and senior associate Daniel Wylde. Intellectual property advice is being provided by partner David Brooks and senior associate Ben Cohen. Tax advice is being provided by partner David Haworth

Nov 6

1 min

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) advises Smurfit Kappa Group plc (Smurfit Kappa), a FTSE 100 company, on its merger with WestRock, an S&P 500 company, to create Smurfit WestRock. Smurfit WestRock’s ordinary shares will be dual listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and on the standard segment of the Official List of the FCA and admitted to trading on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Smurfit Kappa, headquartered in Ireland, is one of the leading providers of paper-based packaging solutions in the world, with more than 47,000 employees in over 350 production sites across 36 countries and with revenue of €12.8 billion in 2022. WestRock, headquartered in the US, partners with customers to provide differentiated, sustainable paper and packaging solutions and support customers around the world from locations spanning North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Together, Smurfit Kappa and WestRock generated combined last twelve months adjusted annual revenue of approximately $34 billion as of 30 June 2023, which would make Smurfit WestRock the largest listed global packaging partner by revenue. Completion is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2024, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, as well as other related closing conditions. The Freshfields team was led by partners Piers Prichard Jones and Nick Jones, supported by counsel Richard Ho and Ethan Magid, senior associate Toby Holborow and associate Nii Sekan. Antitrust advice was provided by partner Rafique Bachour, principal associate Marta Janek, and legal consultant Rita Leitão

Sep 12

1 min

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer ('Freshfields') has advised Entain plc, the FTSE 100 company that is one of the world's largest sports betting and gaming groups operating in the online and retail sector, on the acquisition of Angstrom Sports. The transaction is expected to complete during Q3 2023. Angstrom Sports is a specialist provider of next generation sports modelling, forecasting and data analytics. Its simulation-based predictive modelling creates highly sophisticated pricing and forecasting capabilities. Angstrom’s proprietary offering is differentiated by its accuracy, richness, and breadth across US sports betting products and markets. The Freshfields team is being led by partners Nick Jones and Chris Mort, with support from associates Toby Halford and Arian Thomas. Tax advice was provided by partner Peter Clements and finance advice by partner Aled Batey.

Jul 17

1 min

Global law firm Freshfields advises Allfunds Group plc (‘Allfunds’) on its recommended cash and share acquisition by Deutsche Börse AG (‘Deutsche Börse’). Allfunds is a leading global dealing and distribution platform in the wealth management industry, listed on Euronext Amsterdam. Deutsche Börse is a global market infrastructure provider for trading markets in financial instruments, headquartered in Frankfurt. The transaction, valued at approximately €5.3bn, is expected to complete in the first half of 2027 subject to the approval of Allfunds’ shareholders and regulatory conditions being satisfied. The Freshfields team is being led by partners Nick Jones, Stephen Hewes and Michael Black on M&A, Uta Itzen, Andreas von Bonin and Jenny Leahy on antitrust, David Franco and Cyrus Pocha on financial regulation, Alice Greenwell on employment, Martin Hutchings on finance, Christoph Seibt on German law matters and Hanneke Rothbarth on Dutch law matters.

Jan 22

1 min