KKR comes up trumps for CC with Kwik-Fit Instruction

Clifford Chance's private equity practice has received another endorsement from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) after the US buyout house instructed it on another major UK deal. It is understood that Clifford Chance is advising KKR on a potential bid for Kwik-Fit, which is being sold off by CVC Capital Partners. According to reports, KKR and Japanese tyre manufacturer Bridgestone are leading the bidding war.

The mandate is a coup for Clifford Chance because, although the firm has advised KKR on a string of overseas deals, it has not acted for the buyout house on many deals in the UK. Indeed, Clifford Chance landed its first UK deal for KKR at the beginning of the year, when the firm was brought in to advise on a bid for bureau de change business Travelex.

In recent times KKR has instructed Allen & Overy, Herbert Smith and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett's UK office. But it has become even more fickle and is now spreading its work more broadly. Linklaters is acting for CVC.