Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has won a role on its second General Electric (GE) related acquisition in a month, working with Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel on the acquisition of GE’s equipment finance and receivable finance businesses.
The transaction comes just a few weeks after BLP advised an investment consortium on its £3.8bn purchase of a portfolio of first lien mortgage loans from GE’s UK home lending business, with Allen & Overy (A&O) then on call for the latter.
This time, GE turned to Slaughter and May partners Frances Murphy and Michael Corbett, assisted by tax partner Mike Lane, real estate partner John Nevin and IP partner Rob Sumroy. Claire Jeffs and Charles Cameron also worked on the deal, advising on competition and pensions matters respectively.
Slaughters called on its two best friend firms Hengeler Mueller and Bredin Prat for assistance on the deal, with Bredin Prat partners Kate Romain and Olivier Assant advising from Paris.
The Hengeler team, based in both Düsseldorf and Frankfurt, was led by M&A partners Maximilian Schiessl and Wolfgang Meyer-Sparenberg, along with corporate partner Christian Moeller, labour partner Henrik Bockenheimer and banking partner Christian Schmie. Further support was provided by regulatory partner Vera Jungkind, tax partner Martin Klein and competition partner Alf-Henrik Bischke.
BLP advised the buyers Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel (BFCM), the second largest retail bank in France. Corporate finance partner Adam Bogdanor led the BLP team, alongside tax partners Neal Todd and Gary Richards, and commercial associate director Mimi Curran.
Like Slaughters, BLP also called upon a host of European firms to advise as well, including De Pardieu Brocas Maffei partner Guillaume Touttée, who acted from Paris. The relationship between both firms dates back many years, with this deal representing their largest joint transaction to date.
Gleiss Lutz partners Burkhard Jäkel and Detlef Bauer also worked for Crédit Mutuel in Frankfurt.
GE Capital’s commercial lending and leasing platforms in France and Germany provide factoring and leasing products and services to a broad range of commercial customers. They have a combined net earnings assets of over $10bn.
Background to the deal
Slaughters has been involved in many transactions involving GE in the past, such as GE Capital’s sale of GE Money Bank Latvia. However, it also won roles advising on the other side. In 2011, acting for John Wood Group on the $2.8bn (£1.7bn) sale of its oil well support-division to GE in 2011.
Earlier this year, the firm was understood to have won a spot on GE’s European panel, alongside A&O and Weil Gotshal. The recent transaction means all three firms have now represented the company on its ongoing attempt to divest most of GE Capital’s assets, with the businesses here forming a part of its commercial lending and leasing platforms.
A&O worked for GE on its sale of first lien mortgage loans at the start of this month, while Weil Gotshal advised the company on the sale of assets to Wells Fargo and Element Financial Corporation.