Patrick Ko

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (“Freshfields”) is advising Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (“Ontario Teachers’”) on its agreement to acquire a majority stake in Seven Investment Management (“7IM”), a leading UK wealth manager, from Caledonia Investments plc. 7IM is a client centric, technology-driven wealth and investment manager that manages approximately £21 billion of assets on behalf of more than 2,300 financial advisory firms and 7,000 private clients across the UK. Founded in 2002, 7IM is headquartered in London and Edinburgh, and has more than 500 colleagues across the UK. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval. The Freshfields team is being led by partners Patrick Ko and Richard Johnson, together with partners Emma Rachmaninov on financial services regulatory matters; Toby Bingley, Chris Davis, Aled Batey and Richard Hart on financing; Rachael Annear and Giles Pratt on IP/IT matters; Helen Buchanan on tax matters; and David Mendel on employment matters.

Sep 5

1 min

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (“Freshfields”) is advising Warburg Pincus on the proposed sale of Vodeno, a provider of comprehensive cloud-based banking platform services, and Aion Bank, a digital bank based in Belgium. Vodeno and Aion Bank combine to provide end-to-end Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) for both financial and non-financial companies across Europe. The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including regulatory approval. The Freshfields team is being led by Private Capital partner Patrick Ko, together with counsel Mac Mackenzie on regulatory matters and partners Tom McGrath on competition matters, May Smith on tax matters and Holly Insley on employment matters.

Jul 26

1 min

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) is advising Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (“Ontario Teachers’”) on its agreement to sell its majority shareholding in Premier Lotteries Ireland DAC (“PLI”), the operator of the Irish National Lottery, to La Française de Jeux (“FDJ”), the largest French lottery gaming operator. As part of the transaction, PLI’s other shareholders, An Post and the An Post Pension Fund, will also sell their minority shareholdings in PLI to FDJ. PLI was awarded a 20-year licence by the Irish Government in November 2014, and under Ontario Teachers’ and An Post’s ownership has raised of €1.9 billion for Good Causes, with 2021 and 2022 being the most successful years in that regard. PLI’s core purpose is to operate a responsible world-class lottery for the people of Ireland, raising much needed Good Causes funding for the benefit of local communities throughout the country. FDJ and PLI have a long-standing partnership successfully operating the transnational EuroMillions lottery. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by the Irish Regulator of the National Lottery. The Freshfields team is being led by partners Richard Johnson and Patrick Ko and senior associate Christopher Yarrow, together with partner Helen Buchanan and senior associate Emily Szasz advising on tax matters, and partners Alex Potter and Deirdre Trapp advising on antitrust and foreign investment matters.

Jul 28

1 min

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (“Freshfields”) is advising Warburg Pincus on its agreement to acquire Specialist Risk Group (“SRG”), an insurance intermediary, from HGGC and Specialist Risk Group’s management team. SRG was launched in January 2020 under the leadership of Group CEO Warren Downey and Group Deputy CEO Lee Anderson and currently employs over 600 people. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval. It is anticipated that Temasek, the Singapore-headquartered global investment company, and SRG management, will also invest in SRG alongside Warburg Pincus at closing of the transaction. The Freshfields team is being led by partners Patrick Ko and Alastair Brown, together with partners James Smethurst on financial services regulatory matters; Tom McGrath on competition aspects; May Smith on tax matters; Richard Lister on IP/IT matters; Ali Kirby-Harris on compliance matters; Holly Insley on employment matters; and Victoria Hills on real estate matters.

May 29

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