Salans has advised Retail Investments Limited, a specialist retail investment group led by Hilco UK, on its purchase of Habitat on 11 December 2009.
Habitat has 35 stores in Britain, 26 in France, five in Spain and five in Germany and employs more than 1,500 staff.
A pan-European Salans team led by Alison Gaines, Banking and Restructuring Consultant, and Jonathan Polin, Corporate Partner, is advising Hilco on the UK, French, German and Spanish aspects. In addition the team is managing the legal issues in Holland with Van Doorne N.V. Freshfields (Claire Wills) acted for the sellers.
The engagement involved multi disciplinary teams in each jurisdiction advising on corporate, tax and restructuring law, with several complicated conflict of laws issues arising. In addition, the transaction had to be completed remarkably quickly, with only two weeks between acceptance of the client’s offer and completion. This is a perfect example of Salans’ ability to deal with complex cross-border transactions in an effective and timely manner.
Of the firm’s relationship with the client, Alison commented: “We have acted for Hilco for several years and look forward to continuing to help them build their business and play a part in their success.”
Contacts
Alison Gaines
Consultant - London
Tel.: +44 207 429 6146
E-mail: againes@salans.com
Jeff Naqvi
Global Deputy CMO
Tel.: +44 207 429 6000
E-mail: jnaqvi@salans.com