Lovells, Olswang take prime roles on £100m New Star sale
Olswang take prime roles on £100m New Star sale" />Lovells and Olswang have won key finance mandates as bidders circle troubled asset management group New Star.
New Star has been put up for sale by a consortium of banks, which took over the company in return for writing off £240m of debt.
Olswang, led by corporate partner Simon Morgan, is advising New Star.
The banks – HBOS, Lloyds, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and National Australia Bank – have turned to Lovells restructuring partner Stephen Foster.
Several investors have reportedly expressed an interest in New Star, which is expected to be sold for around £100m.
Asset management giant Schroders is understood to be among the suitors. The group has previously used Linklaters and Eversheds for corporate transactions, although Allen & Overy and Slaughter and May are also on the panel.
Aberdeen Asset Management is also thought to be a possible bidder. The group favours Dechert for UK deals, having used the US firm in 2005 for its purchase of Deutsche Asset Management. It has also used Maclay Murray & Spens and Allen & Gledhill.
Other parties involved in the sale include Henderson and Neptune Asset Management, both of which have used Slaughter and May in the past, and Gartmore, which has a panel of firms including Ashurst, Eversheds and Simmons & Simmons.
Olswang’s inclusion is a boon for the firm’s ambitious corporate group. The firm advised on New Star’s entry to the London Stock Exchange in 2007, as well as its inclusion on AIM in 2005.
New Star is thought to have lost around £2bn since the start of the year as investors ;scramble ;to withdraw their funds from the ailing asset manager.
The group confirmed that it had received a number of approaches from potential buyers.
