Latham & Watkins has won the lead role for US-based FMC Technologies on its $13bn (£8.9bn) merger with French-listed Technip, which turned to Davis Polk & Wardwell and Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier.
Oil and gas services company FMC Technologies was represented by a cross-border team from Latham led by Chicago partners Mark Gerstein and Bradley Faris.
They were assisted by Chicago-based benefits and compensation partner Robin Struve and tax partner Nicholas DeNovio, while litigation issues were handled by Douglas Greenburg in Washington DC.
In Europe, Latham Paris partner Patrick Laporte and London partner Richard Butterwick were on hand for advice, with the transaction due to be completed through a European cross-border merger. This means a new English company will absorb Technip in a reverse triangular structure and FMC Technologies will become a subsidiary of the new company.
Davis Polk & Wardwell was meanwhile instructed by FMC’s merger partner Technip. The company was advised by two New York partners William Aaronson and Brian Wolfe, with partner Jacques Naquet-Radiguet and counsel Juliette Loget working in Paris.
The US firm co-led on the deal with French-headquartered Darrois, who fielded a team led by corporate partners Jean-Michel Darrois, Bertrand Cardi and Benjamin Burman. Partner Vincent Agulhon advised on tax aspects, while partner Henri Savoie and of counsel Patrick Mèle worked on public law aspects.
The deal is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2017 and the new company will be called TechnipFMC. Together, the two reported revenues of $20bn (£13.7bn) in 2015.
Background to the deal
In-housers at both companies played a major role in the deal, including FMC general counsel Dianne Ralston, deputy general counsel Mark Wolf and senior legal counsel Lisa Wang. John Freeman is Technip’s general counsel, having joined the company last October.
It is not Technip’s first attempt at a combination, announcing in 2014 that it intended to acquire French seismic surveyor CGG for €1.47bn (£1.bn). Darrois also advised Technip on this transaction, with Clifford Chance taking a lead role on the deal for Technip.
The merging companies have been working together since the start of last year. The combination is expected to build on its existing alliance and joint venture Forsys Subsea, which saw Eversheds advise FMC Tecnologies on the agreement.