Deal: PATRIZIA has acquired Whitehelm Capital.

Value: EUR67 million will be paid in a combination of cash and PATRIZIA shares.

Area: M&A.

Key players: NRF's global team comprised of Australian-based partners Adam Edelman, Jasmine Sprange, Jon Ireland, Greg Reinhardt and Alexandra Shields, special counsel Simon Meagher, senior associate Michael Phillips, associate Laura Bernhardt, and lawyer Ellen Pen; London-based partners Alan Bainbridge, Imogen Garner, Dominic Stuttaford, Catrina Smith, Matthew Foster and Richard Sheen along with special counsel Albert Weatherill and counsel Matt O’Shea; Luxembourg-based partner Manfred Dietrich; and German-based partners Frank Henkel and Oliver Polster. 

DLA Piper’s cross-border team was led by Australian partners Shane Bilardi (M&A) and Emma Kendall (investment funds) supported by Eddie Ahn (tax, Australia), Rick Catanzariti (employment, Australia), Matt Davies (tax, United Kingdom), Alexandra Kamerling (anti-trust and competition, United Kingdom), legal director Stephen Jones (tax, United Kingdom), counsel Nicholas Klein (international trade, US), senior foreign legal associate Bradley Heath (corporate, Australia), solicitors Kathryn Randle and Kimberley Chee (corporate, Australia), and senior legal project manager Valerie Polovinkina.

Deal significance: Whitehelm Capital is an infrastructure investment manager, which according to a DLA statement has a “proven track record in diversified infrastructure equity and credit investment management, having made more than 100 investments over the last 23 years”.

“Whitehelm’s product offering and investment expertise will significantly broaden PATRIZIA’s portfolio of investment solutions with a particular focus on smart cities and digital infrastructure, de-carbonisation and energy transition, water and environmental services, and social infrastructure, across equity, debt, and public-listed infrastructure investments,” the firm said.

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PATRIZIA’s acquisition of the company expands its global footprint in the Asia-Pacific region, added a statement from NRF.

“The acquisition will further strengthen PATRIZIA’s position as a leading global real asset investment manager and increase its Assets Under Management (AUM) to over €50 billion in line with its mid-term growth strategy,” the statement read.

“The acquisition will triple PATRIZIA’s infrastructure AUM to circa €5 billion and PATRIZIA is aiming to grow the segment in the mid-term to €15 to 20 billion.”

Commenting on behalf of NRF, partner Adam Edelman said: “We are grateful to have worked with PATRIZIA on this acquisition that is transformational for its business.”

“This was a terrific opportunity that really played to our global strengths in financial institutions M&A. The cross-border nature of the deal required an integrated Norton Rose Fulbright team, working in sync across multiple jurisdictions and time zones. This meant that we were able to employ a ‘follow the sun model’ – particularly between Australia, London, Frankfurt, and Luxembourg – so our work for PATRIZIA continued around the clock.”

Commenting on behalf of DLA, partner Shane Bilardi said: “We are thrilled to have been able to bring a cross-border DLA Piper team together for Whitehelm to achieve a successful sale to PATRIZIA. This acquisition provides Whitehelm with the opportunity to significantly grow its AUM over the medium term with the support of PATRIZIA and is transformative for PATRIZIA as it substantially strengthen its infrastructure offering.”