Links, Hogan Lovells bag Paternoster acquisition by Rothesay

Corporate partners Guy Potel and Charles Rix led the Hogan Lovells team for Paternoster. Linklaters advised Goldman Sachs, fielding a team fronted by corporate partners Matthew Middleditch and Matt Bland and featuring global insurance co-head Duncan Barber.

The deal, which followed an auction process, will see the investment bank’s pension business double in size by adding more than £3bn of assets to its portfolio.

Paternoster lists Deutsche Bank as its largest shareholder, with stakes also held by investment bank Numis, US private equity house Eton Park and hedge funds Polygon, Lansdowne Partners and Cheyne Capital.

Rix said: “If you look at the shareholder portfolio it made the deal all the more interesting and rewarding to be a part of. It set it apart from a normal private M&A.”

Hogan Lovells’ corporate insurance group has ­recently won mandates on a number of transactions for major life insurance companies. Restructuring partner Stephen Foster acted for the lenders on the £800m ­flotation of life assurance fund Phoenix Group. The firm also acted for Equitable Life on the disposal of its £1.8bn with-profits annuity business to Prudential.

Rix said: “We’ve known Paternoster for a few years and have got a good profile on the annuity market, which helped us win this mandate.”