Slaughters firms up Hilton link with reunification deal

Slaughter and May has strengthened its relationship with Hilton Group, acting on the company's agreement with Hilton Hotels Corporation (HHC) to acquire Hilton International for £3.3bn.

The agreement will reunite the Hilton brand for the first time since it was split in 1964.

Under the terms of the deal, HHC will only acquire the UK company's lodging operations, while Hilton Group will change its name to Ladbrokes and focus on its online and in-store betting operation.

Slaughters corporate finance partners Richard de Carle and Padraig Cronin led the team through the deal. De Carle told The Lawyer that Slaughters had acted for Hilton Group since the company formed its international Hilton strategic alliance in 1997.

"We acted for Hilton Group when it formed a strategic alliance with HHC and we've done all of its top-level M&A since then," he said. "It [the Hilton Group deal] was a lot of complicated work to do in a relatively short period of time."

Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett co-advised Hilton Group on the US aspects of the agreement. Sullivan & Cromwell represented HHC on the US aspects, while Macfarlanes acted on the UK elements of the deal.

Latham & Watkins acted for UBS Securities, financial adviser to HHC.