Weil advised Avista and Nordic on the transaction valued at approximately £270 million, which was announced on 2 October 2013 and is subject to a minimum acceptance threshold of two-thirds of Acino’s shareholders as well as other customary conditions and regulatory approvals.

The CHF115 per share offer, made by acquisition vehicle Pharma Strategy Partners (jointly owned by Avista and Nordic), represents a 33% premium over Acino’s closing share price on 1 October 2013, the last trading day prior to the pre-announcement of the offer, and is the biggest increase on record for the company, which listed on the Swiss stock exchange in 1994.

Weil also advised the consortium on the bid financing for the transaction, which was arranged by Credit Suisse AG.

Weil fielded a multi-jurisdictional team led by corporate partners Michael Francies and Samantha McGonigle in London. The team also included, among others, New York private equity partner David Blittner, Scott Sontag and Mark Schwed (tax), Edward Watson, Simon Saitowitz and Richard Draper (corporate), Mark Donald, Evgeny Zborovsky and Patrick Brendon (banking), Barry Fishley and James Ralph (intellectual property) and Doug Nave and Neil Rigby (antitrust). Lenz & Staehelin provided Swiss law advice on the transaction.

We have previously advised Avista on a number of matters in the US, including most recently on its acquisition of ZEST Anchors and on the sale of Anthony International, and this transaction represents the first major successful Avista instruction for Weil’s London office. It also highlights the strength and breadth of Weil’s corporate practice, having recently been named “Most Innovative Firm in Corporate Law” by the Financial Times in their annual FT Innovative Lawyers Awards Europe 2013, and currently ranked among the top five law firms for global, US, UK and cross-border M&A in third quarter league tables by Bloomberg and Mergermarket.