Dickinson Dees closes major deal for Govia

The North East firm acted on the company's £30m acquisition of Connex South Central from Connex Transport (UK). Govia is a joint venture between Go-Ahead Group - an existing client of the firm - and Via GTI UK, a subsidiary of French transport company SNCF. It was set up in order to acquire and operate train-operating companies.
Dickinson Dees was the only regional representative in a deal that saw it go up against Norton Rose, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters & Alliance and Simmons & Simmons.
Partner John Flynn, who led the deal with David Rewcastle, said that there are few prominent roles on major rail projects for firms outside the City.