Pervez Akhtar

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Freshfields) is advising Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company B.S.C. (C) (Mumtalakat), the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain, on the successful reorganisation of McLaren Group Limited (McLaren). McLaren is a global leader in luxury automotive and elite motorsports with a focus on its automotive supercar and racing businesses. The McLaren group is formed of McLaren Automotive, which hand-builds lightweight supercars; and a majority stake in McLaren Racing which competes in the Formula 1 World Championship, NTT IndyCar Series in the US, ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Extreme E and E-Sports. With a reputation for innovation and technological excellence, McLaren is one of the UK’s largest independent companies and is globally headquartered at the iconic McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The reorganisation marks a significant milestone in Mumtalakat’s investment in McLaren and represents a major step in the ongoing business transformation of the McLaren group. As a result of the reorganisation, McLaren will benefit from a simplified ownership and governance structure, allowing it to focus on its long-term business plan whilst continuing to explore potential technical collaboration with industry partners. The Freshfields team was led by partners Pervez Akhtar, Richard Tett and Rhys Evans, as well as senior associate Caroline Platt and associates Toby Halford, Jack Robb and Frederick Money.

Mar 28

1 min

Global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) advised Invest Bank P.S.C. on its capital restructuring plan, which included the provision of a guarantee by the Government of Sharjah for a certain loan and asset portfolio, a step that is the first of its kind in the UAE. The transaction entailed several complex and challenging regulatory steps, including the issuance of new shares by way of a rights issue, leveraging the (back then) newly introduced commercial companies law (“CCL”) which allowed companies in the UAE to issue shares at a discounted par value, obtaining exemptions from the UAE Cabinet from the applicability of certain provisions of the CCL and numerous discussions and negotiations with the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). The Freshfields team advising on the transaction was led by partner Pervez Akhtar. Associate Khaled Al-Assaf lead the execution of the transaction with the supervision of counsel Abdallah Maher. Advice on the guarantee agreement was provided by partner Patrick Cichy, principal associate, Jan Biermann, and associate, Simon Schulte (all Corporate/M&A, Hamburg), who have a track record of advising on similar capital solutions which were implemented in Europe.

Dec 13

1 min

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer ('Freshfields') has advised the shareholders of the Global Feeder Shipping group (GFS), a feeder and container shipping provider, on the sale of 80% of their stake in GFS to Abu Dhabi Ports Group (ADP). The total consideration for the 80% stake is US$800,000,000. GFS owns one of the largest fleets of container ships globally – featuring 26 owned and operated vessels with a total capacity of 72,500 TEU, covering the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. ADP is a UAE-listed end-to-end logistics business. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023. The Freshfields team that advised on the transaction was led out of the Dubai office by partner Pervez Akhtar and counsel Saad Mian, with support from associates Nalothiya Nambirajah, Lara Dajani and Mirabel Anosike and trainee Chloe Turner. Antitrust advice was provided by partner Rafique Bachour and associates Michael Bo Jaspers and Tuna Tanik.

Nov 7

1 min

Global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) has advised US conglomerate Emerson on the acquisition of Flexim Flexible Industriemeßtechnik GmbH (‘Flexim’). The transaction is expected to close by the end of Emerson’s fiscal 2023, subject to customary closing conditions. Afterwards, Flexim’s Berlin headquarter is planned to become Emerson’s Ultrasonic Flow Measurement Center of Excellence. Flexim is the world's only supplier of clamp-on ultrasonic systems for non-intrusive flow measurement of liquids and gases with SIL certification. Flexim's clamp-on ultrasonic systems measure virtually anything that flows, liquids as well as gases. The sensors are simply clamped onto the outside of the pipe with no interruption of service or risk of leakage. The transaction will expand Emerson’s automation portfolio and measurement capabilities, complementing its existing flow measurement positions in Coriolis, differential pressure, magmeter and vortex flow measurement. Underpinned by favorable end market growth and technology leadership, the global ultrasonic clamp-on flowmeter market is expected to grow in the high single digits annually longer-term. Emerson reported revenue of $19.63 billion for the fiscal year ended 2022. The Freshfields team was led by Partner Barbara Keil (Corporate/M&A, München) and Counsel Marcus Wolter (Corporate/M&A, Milan). The team further comprised: Corporate/M&A: Associate Jan Postweiler (Munich), Partner Farid Sigari-Majd (Vienna), Guillemette Burgala (Paris), Dirk-Jan Smit (Amsterdam), Counsel Olaf Ehlers, Associates Athanasios Tasopoulos, Jules Troubat (all New York), Martin Zankl, Patrick Wageneder, Carolina Gerstacker (all Vienna), Anqi Yu (Beijing), Fabienne Tichelman, Hannah Erdman (both Amsterdam), Stephanie Austera (London), Legal Consultants Zhe Wang, Vivian Wang (both Beijing), Senior Transaction Lawyer Franz Dahl (Hamburg) and Transaction Lawyer Stéphanie Adriaens (Berlin) IP: Partner Nina Bayerl and Associate Diana Baum (both Munich) Employment Law: Partner Thomas Granetzky (Düsseldorf), Karin Buzanich-Sommeregger (Vienna), David Mendel (London), Sarah Ghulambussain (Silicon Valley), Principal Associates Benedikt Sprinzl (Vienna), Sarah Rohmann (Düsseldorf), Associates Vera Münsch (Munich), Fan Li (Beijing), Veere Everard, Babette Koning (both Amsterdam), Gino Murugesan (London), Kristen Stidham (Silicon Valley) Regulatory: Partner Juliane Hilf (Düsseldorf), Counsel Sascha Arnold (Hamburg), Associate Felicitas Weber (Berlin) Finance: Counsel Nina Heym, Associate Benedikt Schwarz (both Frankfurt) Tax: Counsel Martin Rehberg, Associate Julian Siller (both Munich) Real Estate: Partner Gerrit Beckhaus (Hamburg), Pervez Akhtar (Dubai), Counsel Jeremiah Nelson (Silicon Valley), Associates Florian Nicolas Schröder (Hamburg), Michael Holzmannhofer (Vienna), Johan Nijmeijer (Amsterdam), Legal Consultant Tariq Saeed (Dubai) Commercial: Partner Lutz Riede, Associate Iris Amschl (both Vienna)

Aug 24

2 min