Kirkland and Willkie power up for Constellation deal

Kirkland & Ellis and Willkie Farr & Gallagher have snared lead roles on MidAmerican Energy’s $4.7bn (£2.6bn) acquisition of Constellation Energy.

A Kirkland team, led by partners George Stamas and Mark Director advised Constellation while Willkie partners Peter Hanlon, Adam Turtletaub and Laurence Weltman advised Warren Buffet’s MidAmerican Energy.

Kirkland has an existing relationship with Constellation. In 2006, Stamas and Director advised the group on its merger with Florida energy company, FPL Group.

MidAmerican turned to regular adviser Hanlon, who also represented the company in 2005 when it acquired PacifiCorp from Scottish Power for $9.4bn (£5.2bn).

The deal comes at a time of massive liquidity concerns in the global markets, which had impacted Constellation’s commodities trading operations. Up until today (18 September), the energy had been struggling to find a suitable acquirer while a large-scale capital infusion from energy company EDF was also discussed during negotiations.