Linklaters bags £800m extra for S&N shareholders

The Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) saga has finally come to a close after the £7.8bn offer by the Carlsberg and Heineken consortium was accepted.

S&N was advised by Linklaters corporate partner Matthew Middleditch and his team.

By all accounts Linklaters, S&N general counsel Peter Kennerley and the FTSE100 company's board mounted a model takeover defence and squeezed an extra £800m for shareholders out of the consortium.

Allen & Overy corporate partners Alan Paul and Alun Eynon-Evans led the team acting for Heineken. Norton Rose M&A partners Chris Pearson and Andrew Phillips, dispute resolution partner Deirdre Walker and competition partner Martin Coleman advised Carlsberg.

The advisers worked flat-out to complete the deal in time for the deadline set by the Takeover Panel.

The final close of the transaction is likely to occur by the second quarter of 2008, after antitrust clearances and scheme processes have been completed, although the door has been left open by S&N's board for a counter-offer to be made.

An Ashurst team led by corporate partner Robert Ogilvy Watson acted for financial advisers Credit Suisse and Lehman Brothers.