Linklaters has won the top mandate for Glencore on the $2.5bn (£1.8bn) stake sale of its agricultural arm to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).
The magic circle firm is a regular adviser to Glencore, with corporate partner David Avery-Gee leading the team on the sale of Glencore Agricultural Products.
Under the terms of the transaction, Glencore has sold a 40 per cent equity interest in its agriculture business to CPPIB. The pair have also agreed to an initial four-year lock-up period in which Glencore may decide to sell up to a further 20 per cent of the company.
Investment management company CPPIB turned to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer on the purchase, with corporate partners David Higgins and Richard Thexton leading the team.
The sale forms part of Glencore’s plans to reduce net debt, including the raising of around $2bn from the sale of assets by the end of this year.
Background to the deal
Linklaters is a key adviser to Glencore and has represented the company on major transactions over the years.
Partner Charlie Jacobs worked on the long-awaited IPO of the commodities trader in 2011, with Clifford Chance advising the banks.
Jacobs then represented Glencore on its $82bn merger with Xstrata in 2012, in which Freshfields won the mandate on the other side. A year later, Linklaters took the lead role for Glencore Xstrata on its first post-merger bond issue – a transaction that again saw Clifford Chance pick up the banking work.
Linklaters represented Glencore on its capital raising last September to reduce $10.2bn of debt from its books.