Charles Hayes

Global law firm Freshfields is advising CVC, one of the world’s leading private markets investment firms, on its acquisition of Marathon Asset Management, (‘Marathon’) a leading global credit manager. Following completion, the combination of CVC’s existing credit business and Marathon will create a world-class, multi-asset global credit manager with scaled investment capabilities across both Private and Public Credit. The addition of Marathon materially broadens CVC’s credit offering and significantly enhances its ability to scale and serve clients across Institutional, Private Wealth, and Insurance channels globally. The transatlantic Freshfields team is being led by partners Andy Robinson, David Sonter, Charles Hayes and Neal Reenan, senior associate Ted Haxby and associate Andrew Rondeau on M&A, with partners Emily Szasz and Joe Soltis on tax.

Jan 26

1 min

Global law firm Freshfields has today announced the significant expansion of its global energy and infrastructure (E&I) business with the appointments of two leading E&I practitioners. Partners Jessamy Gallagher and Stuart Rowson will join the firm’s energy and infrastructure practice, based in London. Both will join from Paul Hastings. An internationally renowned lawyer, Gallagher will serve as Global Co-Head of Energy & Real Assets group alongside London partner Richard Thexton. She focuses on international public and private M&A, and global pension, infra and fund manager clients, and has also advised several FTSE listed clients. Rowson joins with more than 25 years of experience and brings a wealth of asset expertise since pivoting his practice over a decade ago to focus on advising private capital clients and lenders on financing E&I assets and complex infrastructure refinancings. Senior partner Georgia Dawson said: “Jessamy and Stuart’s arrival accelerates our continued global growth in Europe, the US and beyond. Energy and infrastructure continue to present unique and transformative opportunities for both our private capital and corporate clients and this move sees us actively supporting their needs. Our global strength continues to be recognised by recent global M&A league table results where we excel in cross-border, European, US, Asia, MENA, and private equity markets – underscored by Chambers Global recognition across 105 top tier Band 1 rankings.” Gallagher and Rowson will work closely with Richard Thexton and Freshfields’ wider E&I and private capital teams in Europe, the US, and Asia to drive forward the strategic growth of Freshfields’ global E&I advisory capabilities. Global Co-Head of the Energy & Real Assets group, Richard Thexton, commented: “Jessamy and Stuart join us at a pivotal moment when we look to expand our global E&I offering across the full range of private capital and strategic investors in the energy, energy transition and broader infrastructure sectors. We anticipate increased investment in these areas notwithstanding political policy shifts by new government administrations which are driving significant changes,  and creating challenges, across industries and sectors. There are incredibly strong synergies between Jessamy and Stuart’s client relationships and ours and we are all eager to start talking to our clients about our enhanced offering.” Charles Hayes, Global Co-Head of Private Capital, said: “Our vision is clear: to continue to build on our leading European buyout heritage and increasing US presence, while evolving to operate seamlessly across global markets. We are dedicated to delivering a differentiated, world-class client service experience, tailored to the unique needs of our private markets asset manager clients, and remain agile in supporting them across all strategies in which they deploy capital.”

Feb 28

2 min

Global law firm Freshfields has advised Teneo, the global CEO advisory firm which partnered with CVC in 2019, on its strategic majority investment in Clarity Partners, alongside Kromann Reumert.  Clarity Partners is a boutique M&A and strategy consulting firm based in Copenhagen. This latest transaction carries on Freshfields’ relationship with Teneo, having advised Teneo on its acquisition of Tulchan Communications LLP in 2023. The Freshfields team was led by partner Charles Hayes, senior associate Stephanie Paterson and associates Fletcher Boswell and Felicity Ray, and trainees Jessica Frampton and Alexandra Yang. Antitrust advice was provided by partner Tom McGrath, senior associate Anup Nandra and associate Yannis Karakitsios.

Jan 15

1 min

Global law firm Freshfields is advising Permira on its significant minority investment in the Carne Group (“Carne”). Carne is Europe’s largest independent third-party management company and a leading provider of fund regulation and governance solutions. The deal is subject to customary regulatory approvals and implies a valuation for Carne of approximately €1.4 billion. Founded in 2004, Carne supports asset managers through every element of the fund lifecycle. Carne partners with more than 700 clients, supporting funds distributed in over 160 countries. The cross-practice Freshfields team is being led by partners Charles Hayes and Patrick Ko and senior associates Chris Yarrow and Zoe Walker. Tax advice was provided by Emily Szasz.

Jan 30

1 min

Global law firm Freshfields has advised CVC Capital Partners (‘CVC’), on the completion of its previously announced carve-out acquisition of the Therakos business from global specialty pharma company Mallinckrodt. The investment in Therakos from CVC Capital Partners Fund IX will provide the resources and expertise to further develop the business and its services which improve the lives of patients. Therakos is a fully integrated extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) delivery system for autologous immunomodulatory therapy. With approvals for use in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia and Latin America, it is the platform-of-choice among healthcare providers and patients to treat a range of immune-related diseases. The Freshfields team advising longstanding client CVC is led out of New York by Global Co-Head of Private Capital Neal J. Reenan, Head of US Private Capital Ian N. Bushner, and with support from Global Co-Head of Private Capital Charles Hayes in London. The Leveraged Finance team is led by Head of US Leveraged Finance Allison Liff. Specialist Life Sciences advice is being provided by Head of US Life Sciences Transactions Adam Golden. The team includes partners Mena Kaplan (New York), Joe Soltis (New York), Emily Szasz (London), Lori Goodman (New York), and Bruce McCulloch (DC), counsel Michal Netanyahu (New York), senior associates Edmund Haxby (New York), Daniel Spencer (DC), Madeleine Tavcar (New York) Andrew Herman (New York) and Kelsey Avery (New York), and associates Connor Smith (New York), Allison Caramico (New York), Laura Zhu (New York), Meilun Chen (New York), Anup Nandra (New York), Matt Sieben (New York), Xavier Chitnavis (London), Meghan Arapakis (London), and Charlotte Bourne (London), and Tosin Owoka (New York). UBS is serving as CVC’s financial advisor, together with Freshfields (legal counsel), PWC (financial) and Candesic (commercial).

Dec 4

1 min