Charles Russell has joined City big boys Slaughter and May and Clifford Chance to work on telecoms giant Ericsson’s latest deal.
Ericsson is selling Ericsson’s Enterprise Solutions to Apax Partners Funds for $480m (£330.7m). Ericsson will retain a 20 per cent stake in the newco, Enterprise Solutions.
Ericsson is being advised by Slaughter and May, with Clifford Chance acting for Apax.
But Charles Russell has also become involved, advising the UK management of Ericsson’s Enterprise Solutions. The firm was asked to work on the deal by one of the company’s directors, who is a personal acquaintance of Charles Russell’s head of corporate, Simon Gilbert. It is the first time the firm has worked for the company.
Enterprise Solutions, which has 2,400 employees in 18 countries, looks after Ericsson’s direct sales and service operations. Its main markets are in the UK, Italy, Germany, Brazil and Australia.
The deal therefore includes a significant amount of cross-border work, with local firms being utilised in a range of different countries. Clifford Chance, however, regularly uses its overseas offices.
Gilbert is hopeful that the firm will continue working with the newco once the deal, which is still subject to regulatory approval, completes in April.
“We’d be delighted to carry on advising the company. There’s no sign that we’re not going to, so we’re hopeful that everything in the garden is rosy,” he says.
The side of the deal Charles Russell is working on, effectively a management buyout, has considerable tax issues. Corporate tax partner Tarlochan Lall and tax planning and trusts partner Bart Peerless are therefore working alongside Gilbert.
