Jean-Baptiste Rioual

Kirkland & Ellis advised Blackstone and its portfolio company Fisterra Energy on the sale of the Tierra Mojada combined cycle power plant in Jalisco, Mexico, to Saavi Energía, a portfolio company of Global Infrastructure Partners. The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Rhett Van Syoc and Allan Kirk and associates David Jean-Baptiste and Brett Mele; tax partners Mark Dundon and Joe Tobias; and debt finance partner Tatiana Monastyrskaya and associate Jacqueline Trudeau.

Nov 18

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised BAE Systems (LSE: BA) on the $5.5 billion acquisition of Ball Corp.’s (NYSE: BALL) defense and commercial space unit Ball Aerospace. The deal was announced August 17, 2023. Ball Aerospace specializes in spacecraft, mission payloads, optical systems, conformal antennas, and electronically steered arrays. The acquisition will help BAE accelerate its space strategy. Read the BAE Systems press release The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Sarkis Jebejian, Edward J. Lee and Steven Li and associates David Jean-Baptiste, Eli Markham and Christian Eckel; antitrust & competition partners Ian John, Peter McCormack and Paula Riedel and associate Emily Hsu; technology & IP transactions partners Seth Traxler and Kevin Jacobsen and associate Seth Pritchard; employee benefits partner Matthew Antinossi and associate Caitlyn Pyrce; executive compensation partners Rob Fowler and John Kleinjan and associate James Sprague; government contracts partner Boyd Greene and associate Ashley Pincock; tax partners Sara Zablotney, William Dong and Rebecca Fine; employment & labor partner Christie Alcala and associate Jaime Wamble; environmental transactions partner Michael Saretsky and associate Max Anderson; real estate partner Ian Craig and associate Shawn Lee; and litigation partner Lisa Esayian.

Aug 17

1 min

Simpson Thacher is representing Blackstone in its acquisition of a majority stake in R Systems International Limited (“R Systems”). Blackstone will acquire a majority stake in R Systems from its promoters, and launch a conditional, composite open offer and delisting offer. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.~~R Systems is a leading provider of digital Information Technology services and serves customers in the technology, media, telecom and financial services sectors globally. R Systems is a partner of choice for enterprise customers with a strong suite of capabilities in product engineering, artificial intelligence, data analytics, internet of things, robotic process automation and cloud, employing over 4,400 people across 18 delivery centers in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and India. The transaction was named Deal of the Year by India Business Law Journal 2023.~~The Simpson Thacher team includes Ian Ho, Valerie Fung, Jasper Ma and Jean-Baptiste Rioual (M&A); Lori Lesser and Mark Natividad (IP); Greg Grogan, Falguni Joshi and Guanxiong Xu (Executive Compensation and Benefits); and Meredith Jones and Daisy Dai (Tax).

Nov 17

1 min

The Firm is representing Blackstone in connection with its announced tender offer and subsequent related transactions to take Infocom Corporation (“Infocom”) private. Infocom, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a leading provider of digital comics in Japan and its IT services business provides services to hospitals and other general corporations. Infocom’s Mecha Comic is one of Japan’s top providers of online comics and the market leader for Japanese women 30 years old and above.~~Blackstone commenced the tender offer on June 19, 2024.~~The Simpson Thacher team includes: Anthony King, Sonya Ho and Tiffany Shih (M&A); Étienne Renaudeau and Pauline Patat (Antitrust); Shahpur Kabraji, Andrew Bechtel, Alvin Kwong and Chenyu Cui (Finance); Meredith Jones and Jenna Al-Malawi (Tax); and Steven Klar, Peter Thomas, Richard Zhang and Jean-Baptiste Rioual (Funds).

Jun 25

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis counseled Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) on its acquisition of a 49 percent interest in California energy producer Aera Energy (Aera) in partnership with IKAV which has acquired the remaining 51 percent interest in Aera. Aera was previously owned by Shell and ExxonMobil. Aera is California’s second largest oil and gas producer, accounting for nearly 25 percent of the state’s energy production. CPP Investments and IKAV intend to help Aera balance its energy transition efforts with the need to continue meeting California’s conventional energy demands by investing in a renewable energy portfolio that will power Aera’s existing operations. Over time, renewable power will be deployed across Aera’s land holdings, while selected legacy oil and gas infrastructure will be repurposed to create carbon capture and storage capability. Read the CPP Investments press release here The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Kevin Crews and Allan Kirk; debt finance partners Lucas Spivey and James Bedotto; tax partners David Wheat and Joe Tobias; and real asset partners Thomas Laughlin and Will Eiland; and included assistance from corporate associates David Jean-Baptiste, Oscar Fernando Leija, Chris Boggs and Alexiz Magro-Malo; and debt finance associates Steven Keithley and Tristan Prentice.

Feb 28

1 min