Herbert Smith’s role advising the majority shareholder of Saga, Roger De Haan, on the successful conclusion of the company’s £1.35 billion auction sale has been recognised at the leading award ceremony for the M&A industry, hosted by Acquisitions Monthly magazine.
The auction sale of Saga to a management buy-out team supported by Charterhouse was named UK Deal of the Year at the ceremony that took place at The Dorchester Hotel in London on 19 January 2005. The auction process, which began after Mr. De Haan made the decision to retire as Chairman of Saga, was run on a dual track to give the flexibility for Saga to be sold privately or through an initial public offering and listing of the shares of Saga on the London Stock Exchange. A final decision on the sale route was made only a few days prior to signing to concentrate on reaching a deal with a private bidder and management.
The Herbert Smith team (which also acted for Saga in relation to the proposed IPO) was led by Ben Ward, Louise Freestone and Stephen Barnard with Colin Campbell, Gavin Williams, Adam Wells, Camilla Sacrini, Will Harvey, Robert Moore and Peter Myners (corporate) and Howard Murray with Robert Young and Will Arrenberg (tax).
UBS acted as financial adviser to Mr. De Haan and his family trusts in relation to the sale and for Saga in relation to the proposed IPO.
Ben Ward commented: “This award recognises the months of effort put in by all those involved in this transaction. The conclusion of the sale was a brilliant result for Roger De Haan and the management team.”
Notes to editors
- Herbert Smith’s corporate division has won a number of awards in recent years these include:
- M&A Team of the Year - Legal Business Awards 2003
- M&A Deal of the Year - IFLR European Awards 2003 (Carnival’s takeover of P&O Princess)
- M&A Team of the Year - Legal Business Awards 2002
- M&A Team of the Year - The Lawyer Awards 2002
- Herbert Smith is an international law firm with 1000 lawyers (including over 200 partners) and a network of offices in Europe and Asia. It has a formal alliance with the leading German firm, Gleiss Lutz, and the leading Dutch and Belgian firm, Stibbe
- For further information please contact partner Ben Ward on 020 7466 2093 or Alex Charlwood media and communications manager on 020 7466 3917 / alex.charlwood@herbertsmith.com