Thomas Lane

Willkie is advising Levine Leichtman Capital Partners on its sale of Global Loan Agency Services (GLAS), a leading independent provider of loan agency and trustee services to the global debt markets, to Oakley Capital. On January 5, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners announced that it entered into an agreement to sell GLAS to Oakley Capital. Headquartered in London, GLAS offers mission-critical solutions to lenders and borrowers across syndicated loans, direct lending, and capital markets transactions, and has become a trusted partner for complex financing structures to clients across the globe. Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, LLC is a middle-market private equity firm that currently manages $12.6 billion of assets and has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Miami, London, Stockholm, Amsterdam and Frankfurt. The Willkie team is led by partners David Arnold and William Buchanan and includes partner Komal Raina and associates Thomas Lane and Harry Buchanan.

Jan 5

1 min

Miller Thomson LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP, and Torys LLP advised a take-private deal for European Residential Real Estate Investment Trust in a $441 million acquisition by another REIT, following a multiyear wind-down. Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust will acquire the REIT known as ERES and delist the company from the Toronto Stock Exchange, according to a Monday news release. Toronto-based ERES said it is Canada's only REIT focused on European multifamily properties, holding a portfolio of properties in the Netherlands. As of the end of 2025, ERES held about 1,000 residential units worth a combined $360 million, with about $102 million worth of assets held for sale. CAPREIT is Canada's largest publicly traded rental housing owner, with a combined 45,500 apartments and townhomes across Canada and the Netherlands worth $14.7 billion. The CAPREIT acquisition marks the completion of a strategic review process by ERES. "This transaction marks a natural and constructive ending to ERES, after several successful years of diligent, well-executed downsizing," said Stephen Co, chief financial officer of CAPREIT. "By taking ERES private, CAPREIT can determine the future of the remaining assets in alignment with its long-term objectives, while providing public ERES unitholders with a timely and certain all-cash exit." According to a news release, the acquisition price represents a 32% premium of ERES' closing price on Nov. 6, 2024, before a special ERES meeting to authorize a sale of the REIT. If approved at an upcoming meeting in April, the transaction would close in the second quarter of this year. CAPREIT is advised by John Emanoilidis, David Forrester, Max Ledger, Jason Lamb, Jodie Wang, Michael Zackheim, Simon Knowling, Reea Galeano, Jennifer Lennon, Parker Baglole, Omar Wakil, Andrew Gray, Nina Mansoori, Ben Pan, Corrado Cardarelli, and Andrew Wong of Torys LLP. ERES is advised by Stikeman Elliott LLP. An ERES special committee is advised by Miller Thomson LLP.

Mar 3

1 min

Entrust, a global leader in trusted payments, identities, and data security, has announced that it has entered into exclusive discussions to acquire London-based Onfido, a global leader in cloud-based, AI-powered identity verification (IDV) technology. Any agreement remains subject to regulatory approval and other steps required in accordance with applicable laws. Latham & Watkins LLP represents Entrust in the transaction with a cross-border corporate deal team led by Bay Area partner Mark Bekheit and London partner Sam Newhouse, with associates Kit Adamson and Hadi Najem. Advice was also provided on French corporate matters by Paris partner Pierre-Louis Cléro, with associate Lorraine Dorval; on employment and benefits matters by London partner Sarah Gadd and Paris counsel Romain Nairi, with associate Anna Cloke; on tax matters by London partner Karl Mah, New York partner Matthew Dewitz, and London counsel James Leslie; on data privacy and intellectual property matters by London partner Fiona Maclean, with associate Lorenzo Meusburger; and on sanctions matters by London partner Robert Price and Washington, D.C. counsel Andrew Galdes, with associates Elizabeth Annis, Allison Hugi, and Thomas Lane.~~

Feb 7

1 min

Willkie advised Novacap, a leading North American private equity firm, on its close of Novacap Tech Fund VII, with nearly $3.8 billion in capital commitments, including affiliated vehicles. On February 25, Novacap announced the final close of Novacap Tech Fund VII Fund with nearly $3.8 billion in capital commitments. The fund was raised in under a year, quickly exceeding its target of $2.75 billion, highlighting Novacap’s longstanding focus on disciplined, value-added technology buyouts. With the close of Tech VII – the latest fund in Novacap’s Technologies strategy, Novacap now manages more than $12 billion in assets. In 2025, Willkie advised Novacap on a number of high profile M&A transactions, including its $1.9 billion take-private of Integral Ad Science. The Willkie team was led by partners Larissa Marcellino, Giovanni Smedley and Walter Turturro and included partners Caitlin Link, Henrietta de Salis, Alexander Ryan and Sarah Kessler.

Feb 27

1 min

Vallourec S.A., a world leader in premium tubular solutions headquartered in Meudon, France, has announced that it has successfully priced an offering of Senior Notes due 2032 (the Notes) in an aggregate principal amount of US$820 million, which will be issued at par and will bear interest at a rate of 7.500% per annum. The offering of the Notes is expected to close on April 23, 2024, subject to customary closing conditions. Also as part of the refinancing, Vallourec entered into a new 5-year €550 million multi-currency revolving credit facility (RCF) with a substantially diversified, global banking group and entered into an upsized and extended 5-year US$350 million ABL facility in the United States. Latham & Watkins LLP represented the initial purchasers in the offering with a capital markets team led by New York partners Ian Schuman and Erika Weinberg, with associates James Sullivan and Emma Fichtel. Advice was also provided on French law matters by Paris partner Roberto Reyes Gaskin, with associate Adrien Couvrecelle;* on tax matters by New York partner Jocelyn Noll and Paris partner Xavier Renard, with associate Clémence Morel; and on export controls matters by London partner Charles Claypoole and Washington, D.C. counsel Ruchi Gill, with associate Thomas Lane. Latham also represented the lenders in the revolving credit facility and ABL facility with a banking team led by London partner Ross Pooley, New York partner Conray Tseng, and San Diego counsel Joshua Chao, with associates Simba Gonondo, Theon Richards, Daniel Ovadia, Sean Travers, and Victoria Basedow. *Admitted to practice in New York only.~~

Apr 23

1 min