Lovells advises on Babcock & Brown fund sell off

Babcock’s former senior partner Simon Gray, managing partner Toto Lo Bianco and five other partners have bought out the Babcock & Brown European Infrastructure Fund (BBEIF) in their new company, Arcus Infrastructure Partners. The fund will be renamed Arcus European Infrastructure Fund 1.

Lovells corporate partner Steven Bryan led the team working on the deal, with help from corporate partner Ben Higson and funds partner Eric Jamieson.

Bryan said: “We’re very pleased to have been able to assist Arcus in its establishment with a dedicated and talented group of individuals, who will be able to focus on the interests of the institutional investors in the fund, independently of the Babcock & Brown Group, and so resolving a period of uncertainty for the fund.”

Babcock & Brown, which was known for doing structured finance deals, was placed into voluntary administration in March.

Banco Espirito Santo de Investimento provided financing for Arcus’s acquisition of the infrastructure fund, under advice from Allen & Overy partner Sanjeev Dhuna.

Arcus turned to Linklaters partner Caroline Miller Smith for advice on the financing of the deal while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner Ben Spiers advised Babcock & Brown.

Freshfields had a longstanding relationship with Babcock & Brown, led through former finance head Perry Noble. When Noble left the firm last year he spent several months working at Babcock & Brown (4 May 2009).