Oliver Lazenby

A cross-practice team from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer ('Freshfields') has advised Flutter Entertainment plc ('Flutter') on its additional listing of ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"), which commenced on 29 January 2024. Flutter is the world’s largest online sports betting and iGaming operator based on revenue, operating some of the world’s most distinctive online sports betting and iGaming brands such as FanDuel, Sky Betting & Gaming, Sportsbet, PokerStars, Paddy Power, Sisal, tombola, Betfair, TVG, Junglee Games and Adjarabet. It is expected that the additional listing will enable increased share ownership by investors in the United States, Flutter's largest market. Freshfields has a strong track record of advising on these complex cross-border additional listing processes, with the same team having advised Ferguson plc and Indivior PLC on their additional listings on NYSE and NASDAQ, respectively. The Freshfields team was led by partners Oliver Lazenby, Rhys Evans and Ziyad Nassif, and associates Rob Foley and Marton Mohacsi. Partners David Mendel and Lori Goodman and senior associates Regina Erie, Jeffrey Anand and Andrew Herman advised on employment matters. Partner Peter Clements and associate Matthew Everett advised on tax matters.

Jan 29

1 min

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (“Freshfields”)  is advising John Laing Group plc (“John Laing” or the “Company”) on the recommended cash offer by Aqueduct Bidco Limited, a newly formed company owned by funds advised by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. and its affiliates (“KKR”), the global investment firm. John Laing is a leading international investor which develops and owns mid-market infrastructure assets across the UK & Europe, North America, Latin America and Australia. KKR’s offer values the entire share capital of John Laing at approximately £2.0bn on a fully diluted basis. The acquisition is conditional on the receipt of regulatory, shareholder and court approvals, and is expected to close in the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter of 2021. The Freshfields team is being led by global transactions partner Oliver Lazenby and counsel Holly Baker. Partners Michele Davis, David Mendel, Dawn Heath and Alex Carver led on anti-trust, employment, pension and projects matters respectively. Freshfields is John Laing’s long-standing legal adviser, having advised the Company on, and since, its IPO in February 2015.

May 19

1 min

A cross-border UK and US team from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) has advised Indivior PLC (“Indivior”) on its additional listing on the NASDAQ Global Select Market, which launched on 12 June 2023. Following the additional listing, Indivior will retain its premium listing on the London Stock Exchange and inclusion in the FTSE 250 index, and its ordinary shares will trade on both exchanges under the ticker symbol "INDV." Indivior is a global pharmaceutical company working to help change patients’ lives by pioneering life-transforming treatment for substance use disorders and other serious mental illness. It is expected that the additional listing will facilitate increased share ownership by biopharma investors in the United States, Indivior’s largest market. Indivior is the latest UK-listed issuer seeking access to the US capital markets via a full share listing (as distinct from an ADR), which has become a discernible trend in recent times. Freshfields has an unrivalled track record of implementing these complex cross-border listings, with the same team having advised Ferguson plc on its additional NYSE listing in 2021/22 and currently advising Flutter Entertainment plc on its proposed additional US listing. The Freshfields London team was led by partners Oliver Lazenby and Ziyad Nassif and associates Rob Foley and Marton Mohacsi. The Freshfields US team was led by partner Michael Levitt and counsel Tracy Zhang. Partners Alice Greenwell and Paul Davison advised on employment and tax matters, respectively.

Jun 13

1 min

Freshfields has advised longstanding client Flutter Entertainment plc (Flutter) on its acquisition of Tombola Limited (Tombola), one of the UK’s market leading online bingo operators. The Freshfields team was led by partner Rhys Evans, who also advised on the 2019 merger of Flutter and The Stars Group. The Freshfields team also included partners Oliver Lazenby (Corporate), Deirdre Trapp and Alex Potter (Antitrust), Peter Clements (Tax) and Giles Pratt (IP/cyber).

Nov 19

1 min

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (“Freshfields”)  is advising Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC (“Euromoney”) on the recommended cash offer by Becketts Bidco Limited, a newly incorporated company formed by a consortium of funds managed and/or advised by Astorg Asset Management S.à r.l., Epiris GP Limited and Epiris GP III Limited. Euromoney is a global information business providing essential B2B information to global and specialist markets through price discovery, market intelligence and events across its segments. The offer values the entire share capital of Euromoney at approximately £1,606 million on a fully diluted basis. The acquisition is conditional on the receipt of regulatory, shareholder and court approvals, and is expected to complete during the fourth quarter of 2022. The Freshfields team is being led by global transactions partners Oliver Lazenby and Rhys Evans, senior associate Michael Black and associate Rob Foley. Partners Deirdre Trapp, Alice Greenwell, Mark Kalderon and Dawn Heath led on anti-trust, employment, financial regulatory and pension matters respectively.

Jul 18

1 min