Ben Hai

Kirkland & Ellis is advising Allwyn AG, Europe’s leading lottery operator, on the acquisition of Camelot UK Lotteries Limited, from Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. Upon completion of the acquisition, Camelot UK Lotteries Limited, the current operator of the National Lottery under a licence that runs until 31 January 2024, will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Allwyn. The acquisition is anticipated to close in Q1 2023 and is subject to regulatory approvals, including from the Gambling Commission. Read Allwyn’s press release The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Keir MacLennan, Ben Hai, David Holdsworth and Jonathan Davis and associates Bonian Wu, Ben Zelouf and Joe Timmins; debt finance partners Evgeny Zborovsky and Karen Ford and associate Aman Nath; tax partner Peter Abbott and associate Rohit Pisal; antitrust partners Alasdair Balfour, Joel Gory and Mark Gardner and associates Lucy Mahon, Georgia Cooper-Dervan and Alexander Wathan; and technology & IP transactions partner Emma Flett and associates Alex Zapalowski and Elizabeth Wauchope.

Nov 21

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and affiliated funds (Blackstone) on its strategic partnership with Winthrop Technologies Limited, Europe’s leading dedicated turnkey data centre delivery provider. As part of the transaction, Blackstone will acquire a 50.7% stake in Winthrop Technologies with the remainder of the shares held between the existing shareholders. Read Winthrop Technologies’ press release The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Aprajita Dhundia and Ben Hai and associates Toshi Mahapatra, Bonian Wu, Ece Osman, Lili Crawshaw and Oliver Weighill; debt finance partners Kirsteen Nicol and Thomas Raftery and associates Philipp Engel and Deena Smith; and tax partners Mavnick Nerwal and Ed Moberly and associate Michael Akpomiemie, with assistance from corporate partners Greg Scott and David Higgins.

Apr 15

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis is advising TPG (NASDAQ: TPG) on its investment in Vinted, Europe’s leading second-hand C2C marketplace focused on fashion. The TPG-led group of investors acquired €340 million of shares, valuing Vinted at €5 billion. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team includes corporate lawyers Vincent Bergin, Ben Hai, Dana Abdulkarim, Ray Aryal and Arthur Le Calvez; technology & IP transactions lawyer Jacqueline Clover; and capital markets lawyer Katherine Shaia.

Oct 24

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised IK Partners, a leading European private equity firm, with teams across Northern Europe focusing on the mid-market segment, on the sale of a controlling interest in the firm to Wendel, one of Europe’s leading listed investment firms. Read IK Partners’ press release The Kirkland team was led by investment funds partners James King, Jeremy Leggate and Daniel Lavon-Krien and corporate partners Adrian Duncan, Gregory Scott and Ben Hai, and included corporate partners Vincent Ponsonnaille and Emmanuel Enrici; investment funds partner David Pritchett and associates Toby Karenowski, Hannah Wilson and Tejaswini Krishnaprasad; corporate associates Julian Holland and Adam Diouri; tax partner Nadine Gelli and associate Krishan Patel; antitrust & competition partner Mark Gardner; and regulatory partner Julian Hui and associate Kate McDermott.

Oct 30

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advises WHP Global, one of the fastest growing global brand management firms, on its acquisition of a majority interest in the G-Star RAW® brand, a denim fashion brand. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2023, subject to customary closing conditions including works council procedure. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team was led by partners Carlos Gil Rivas, Ben Hai and John Patten, with support from corporate partner Hamed Meshki; debt finance partners Evgeny Zborovsky, Sarah Goodwin, David Nemecek and Katrina Levy; tax partners Tim Lowe and Cian O'Connor; and antitrust partners Philipp Gnatzy and Athina Van Melkebeke.

Sep 7

1 min