Gibson, Simpson to act on Apria Healthcare buyout

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have won lead roles on the Blackstone Group's 1.6bn Dollars (£815.68m) acquisition of Apria Healthcare.

Simpson Thacher advised longstanding private equity client Blackstone Group on the buyout, with New York corporate partner Bill Dougherty leading the firm on the transaction.

Gibson Dunn partner Jeff Hudson is leading the team ;advising ;Apria. The firm has an existing relationship with Apria, as Gibson Dunn advised the group on its 350m Dollars (£178.43m) acquisition of pharmaceuticals company Coram Healthcare.

Blackstone Group will be contributing an undisclosed amount of cash for the buy-out, together with financing from Bank of America, Barclays ;Capital ;and Wachovia Bank. The banks will together provide a total of 280m Dollars(£142.74m) of debt financing.

US firm Munger Tolles & Olson advised the board of directors of Apria Healthcare on the deal.