Practice area:

Finance

Sector:

TMT

Offices:

London

Value:

£1 billion plus

Project in brief:

Advising the lenders, Barclays Capital and ING, who were providing the funding to Providence Equity Partners for its acquisition of Phones4U and related businesses.

Issues:

This was a large, high-profile and complex transaction that had to be completed against very tight timelines. Aside from Providence’s £1 billion purchase of Phones4U and some other parts of the privately-owned Caudwell Group, the transaction also included the added complication of a back-to-back element under which another private equity house, Doughty Hanson, was buying the group’s handset and accessory distribution business.

Herbert Smith’s initial role was to advise all five of the banks bidding separately to lend to Providence to fund the deal. After two weeks, Barclays Capital and ING were chosen as the lenders. The deal was completed one week later.