Olivier Rogivue

Freshfields is advising Sonoco Products Company (Sonoco), a global leader in high-value sustainable packaging, on its agreement to acquire Eviosys, Europe’s leading food cans, ends and closures manufacturer, from KPS Capital Partners, LP for approximately $3.9 billion. Learn more about this transaction here. The Freshfields team advising Sonoco is led out of New York by M&A partners Damien Zoubek, Zheng (Jonathan) Zhou, Joshua Ayal and counsel Vinita Sithapathy, and includes corporate associates Ziqian Tao, Tosin Owoka and Brayden Koslowsky. Advice relating to Eviosys’s business in Europe is being provided by partners Piers Prichard Jones and Rhys Evans, counsel Meredith Bayley, senior associate Katie Stenstrom and associate Charlotte Lewczynski. Antitrust advice is being provided by partners Justin Stewart-Teitelbaum, Alastair Chapman, Paul, van den Berg, counsel Angela Landry, senior associates Daniel Wylde and Felix Roscam Abbing, and associate Emily Abott. Partners Pamela Marcogliese and Jacqueline Marino and counsel Jeffrey Gould are advising on capital markets matters and partners Kyle Lakin and Martin Hutchings and associates Allison Caramico and Hadar Tanne are advising on the debt financing. Advice on employment and benefits-related matters is being provided by partners Lori Goodman,Dawn Heath and Alice Greenwell, senior associate Andrew Herman and associate Sonia Bennett. Advice on tax matters is being provided by partners Joe Soltis and Eelco Van Der Stok, senior associate Courtney Canning and associate Hannah Golden. Advice on European works council matters is being provided by partners Olivier Rogivue and Christel Cacioppo. Partners Jonathan Kelly and Stephanie Brown-Cripps and associate Young Park are advising on sanctions and compliance matters. Additional corporate advice is being provided by partner Igor Gerber. Advice on IP and data privacy and security issues is being provided by Partners Mena Kaplan, Chris Lyon and Brock Dahl and associate Danny Spencer. In addition, a large cross-border team of Freshfields attorneys provided support on various aspects of the transaction.

Jun 26

1 min

Freshfields a conseillé Saint-Gobain dans le cadre de la signature d’un accord de cession de toutes ses marques de négoce au Royaume-Uni – dont le distributeur de bois et matériaux de construction Jewson – au groupe Stark. L’activité cédée devrait générer un chiffre d’affaires d’environ 2,7 milliards d’euros en 2022 et une marge d’exploitation d’environ 2%. Elle dispose de 600 points de vente et emploie 8 900 personnes. La cession se fera sur la base d’une valeur d’entreprise de 740 millions de livres sterling, soit environ 850 millions d’euros. Saint-Gobain n’aura alors plus d’activité de distribution au Royaume-Uni. Cette opération, qui n’est soumise à aucune condition externe, devrait être finalisée au premier trimestre 2023. L'équipe Freshfields est dirigée par les associés Olivier Rogivue à Paris et Sundeep Kapila à Londres avec Michael Black, collaborateur senior, et Nicola Willson, collaborateur, pour les aspects corporate. L’équipe de Londres était également composée des associés Richard Lister pour les aspects IP et commerciaux, May Smith pour les aspects de droit fiscal, Kathleen Healy et Dawn Heath pour les aspects de droit social et droit des retraites et, Joseph Biesterfield, counsel, sur les aspects financement de l’opération.

Dec 13

1 min

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (“Freshfields”) is advising Equans, a subsidiary of the Bouygues group, on the proposed sale of its district heating and cooling networks in the UK to a consortium formed by Swiss Life Asset Managers and Schroders Greencoat. The portfolio includes district heating and cooling concessions often known as Equans Urban Energy, and includes East London Energy Limited and Equans DE Holding Company Limited. Humber Energy will also be included in the transaction. Completion of the transaction is expected in the last quarter of 2023, subject to relevant approvals. The Freshfields team is being led by partners Richard Johnson, Olivier Rogivue and Graham Watson, together with partners Giles Pratt on separation matters; David Haworth and Peter Clements on tax matters; Rikki Haria on merger control and foreign investment matters; and David Mendel on employment, benefits and pensions matters.

Sep 18

1 min

Freshfields is representing Saint-Gobain in the $2.3 billion all-cash acquisition of GCP Applied Technologies (NYSE: GCP). Details of the transaction and its rationale can be found here. The Freshfields team is led by corporate/M&A partners Joseph Halloum and Ethan Klingsberg, and associates Vinita Sithapathy, David Chen, Anne Powderly, Isaac Ellman, Jack Leichtung and Daria Butler in the United States; corporate partner Olivier Rogivue and counsel Raphael Darmon in Paris; global antitrust partners Jenn Mellot, Mary Lehner, Martin McElwee and Frank Roehling, counsel Laura Onken and associates Victoria Delettre, Christoph Hinrichsen, Sara Salem, Victoria Baert, Aytac Celebi, Justin Chen and Aaron Green; executive compensation and employee benefits partner Lori Goodman and associates Sarah Ghulamhussain, Andrew Herman and Lina Zhu; tax partner Claude Stansbury and associate Brendan Counihan; IP/tech transactions partner Mena Kaplan and associates Marissa Yu and Jennifer Lei; data privacy and security partner Christine Lyon, counsel Brock Dahl and associates Justin Simeone and Elvira Sihvola; global national security and foreign investment partner Aimen Mir and special counsel Christine Laciak; sanctions and export controls partner Nabeel Yousef and associates Amy Cattle and Jennifer King; compliance and investigations partner Olivia Radin and associate Emmeline Chen; and finance partner Dave Almroth and associates Michael David Harris and Mia Tsui.

Dec 6

1 min

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer ('Freshfields') advises Equans, a world leader in the energy and services sectors and a subsidiary of the Bouygues group, on the proposed sale of Equans Energy Solutions (EES), a leading provider of Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) end-to-end solutions to households and businesses in the Netherlands to Essent, a subsidiary of E.ON. Completion of the transaction is expected in the last quarter of 2023, subject to consultation with Dutch central works council of Equans Nederland. The transaction follows Equans’ sale of Aardyn, a developer and producer of geothermal energy, which completed early October 2023 and on which Freshfields also advised. The Freshfields team is being led by principal associate Jordi Wals, together with partners Harald Spruit and Olivier Rogivue, senior associate Julius Kahn and associates Ingrid van den Bosch, Vivianne van der Hauw, Tijn Mandema, Sophie Aubrun and Nina van Driel on corporate matters; Bob van Kasteren, Daan van Schaik and Stan Lemmens on tax matters; and Brechje Nollen and Pam Hufman on employment, benefits and pensions matters.

Oct 16

1 min