Andrew Howard

Private Equity

• Advised Partners Group on its acquisition – on behalf of its clients – of a majority stake in FairJourney Biologics, a leading antibody discovery Contract Research Organization, from GHO Capital Partners
• Advised Liberty Global on its acquisition of shares held by Warner Bros. Discovery in the electric car racing series Formula E
• Advised NielsenIQ, a portfolio company of Advent International, on the sale of CPS GfK to YouGov
• Represented NielsenIQ, a portfolio company of Advent International, in connection with the successful completion of its strategic combination with GfK SE
• Advised TPG and its portfolio company Footballco on the acquisition of Kooora, a Middle East digital sports publisher
• Represented TPG Capital and its portfolio company Nintex, a workflow automation company, in the acquisition of Kryon, a provider of robotic process automation
• Advised funds affiliated with Baring Private Equity Asia, one of Asia's largest private alternative investment firms, on its acquisition of Tricor Group, Asia’s leading business expansion specialist whose corporate mission is to facilitate globalisation in Asia
• Advised Sports Entertainment Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, in a definitive agreement to combine with SGHC Limited to create a global gaming company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange
• Advised Advent International on its agreement to acquire Nielsen Global Connect, a unit of Nielsen Holdings plc, for $2.7 billion
• Advised Integrated Media Company, a TPG platform dedicated to the new media ecosystem, on the acquisition of a majority stake in Goal from the DAZN Group
• Advised Partners Group on its acquisition of a major equity stake in Rovensa, a leading Portuguese-headquartered provider of specialty crop nutrition, biocontrol and protection products, from Bridgepoint
• Advised Entertainment Partners - the global end-to-end provider of production and workforce management solutions to the entertainment industry and owner of the legendary Central Casting – on its acquisition of London-based FilmTech startup, We Got POP
• Advised TPG Capital on the acquisition by BVI – one of its portfolio companies – of PhysIOL Group SA from TA Associates
• Represented Marquee Brands LLC in its acquisition of British men’s clothing brand Ben Sherman and its related intellectual property assets from Oxford Industries, Inc
• Advised TPG, a leading global alternative asset management firm, on its investment into Musixmatch, a leading global music data platform
• Represented funds affiliated with Charlesbank Capital Partners in its investment in Aptean, a global provider of mission-critical, industry-specific enterprise resource planning and supply chain solutions
• Advised McAfee Corp. in a definitive agreement to sell its Enterprise business to a consortium led by Symphony Technology Group in an all-cash transaction for $4 billion
• Represented AIPCF VI LG Funding, LP, an affiliate of American Industrial Partners, in an agreement to potentially sell Gerber Technology to Lectra S.A., a French société anonyme listed on Euronext (LSS)
• Acted for Partners Group on the sale of its stake in €10.25 billion Dutch retailer Action
• Acted for Forensic Risk Alliance and its founders in connection with a capital re-organisation of the business and the subsequent sale of a minority interest in the business to Dunedin LLP
• Acted for the Management Sellers on their sale of GL Education, a provider of educational assessments
• Acted for Metalmark Capital on its acquisition of Premier Research
• Acted for TPG Capital on its acquisition of a majority stake in Poundworld
• Acted for 3i Group plc on the acquisition of Audley Travel
• Acted for Bain Capital on its acquisition of TI Automotive
• Acted for Bain Capital on its acquisition of CRH plc’s clay and concrete businesses in the UK and United States in a transaction valuing the businesses at £414 million

Asset Management

• Advised Partners Group, acting on behalf of its clients, on its investment in eStruxture Data Centers, the largest Canadian data center platform
• Represented Blue Earth Capital AG, the specialist global impact investor, on its acquisition through its investment vehicles of partial interest in three funds across Africa and Asia from British International Investment (BII), the UK’s Development Finance Institution (DFI) and impact investor
• Advised Partners Group, acting on behalf of its clients, on the agreement to invest in Exus, a leading European infrastructure asset management firm focused on the renewable energy sector. Partners Group plans to commit up to EUR 1 billion in growth capital
• Advised Partners Group in connection with an innovative secondary transaction whereby Partners Group, acting on behalf of its clients, will become a strategic investor in Blue Phoenix Group, via an investment in Daiwa International Capital Partners first fund Daiwa ICP European Infrastructure 1
• Represented Partners Group as an anchor investor acting on behalf of its clients - alongside Brookfield Asset Management – in a new €550 million continuation fund raised by Lanza Capital (formerly known as Firmum Capital) focused on acquiring and operating car parks in Spain
• Acted for CVC Credit Partners on its formation of a European debt fund. Our work on this mandate includes advising on fund structuring and establishment, fund terms, regulatory issues and investor negotiations

Finance/Restructuring

• Advised BidFair on all the financing-related elements of its $3.7 billion acquisition of Sotheby’s
• Acted for Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Nordea in connection with the €1.45 billion financing of Nordic Capital’s acquisition of a majority stake in Norway-based Lindorff, one of Europe’s leading providers of debt related administrative services
• Advised Macquarie Capital in connection with certain facilities made available for the purposes of Liberty Hall Capital Partners’ USD 135 million acquisition of Dunlop Aircraft Tyres Ltd
• Acted for KKR Credit Advisors in connection with the private unitranche financing in support of PAI Partners’ acquisition of holiday park operator Roompot BV
• Advised Liberty Global on the establishment of a of a notes issuance programme by VM Receivables Financing, to fund the purchase of a consumer handset loan receivables from Virgin Media Mobile Finance
• Acted Virgin Media Group on the first ever issuance of receivables finance notes and the UK’s first ever handset securitisation
• Acted for Highbridge Principal Strategies, KKR Credit Advisors and Bain Capital Credit, being the ad hoc unsecured noteholder committee, on their financial restructuring of Towergate Insurance
• Acted for KKR Credit Advisors in connection with the €200m private unitranche financing for Dentix Health Corporation

Life Sciences

• Advised Pfizer on its strategic investment in and collaboration with innovative UK-based biotechnology company CellCentric, which includes $25m to help finance further development of inobrodib, its first-in-class p300/CBP inhibitor to treat specific types of cancer
• Advised Gilead Sciences Inc. in its exclusive option to acquire Tizona Therapeutics, Inc., consisting of a first-step acquisition of a 49.9% interest in Tizona Therapeutics, Inc. for $300 million, and an exclusive option to acquire the remainder of Tizona for up to an additional $1.25 billion, including an option exercise fee and potential future milestone payments
• Advised WellSky Corporation – a portfolio company of TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners – on the sale of WellSky International to System C Healthcare, a provider of information technology implementation software and services to the health sector – and portfolio company of CVC Capital Partners
• Advised Partners Group on its acquisition of Pharmathen, a European pharmaceutical company, from international investment firm BC Partners on behalf of its clients. The transaction values Pharmathen at an enterprise value of around EUR 1.6 billion
• Advised NeoGenomics, Inc. on its acquisition of Inivata Ltd, a global, commercial stage liquid biopsy platform company, headquartered in Cambridge, UK
• Advised Baring Private Equity Asia on the sale of Lumenis LTD. Surgical Business, a company that develops and commercializes energy-based medical solutions, to Boston Scientific
• Advised Avista Capital Partners on its EUR 305m joint acquisition of Vision Healthcare
• Acted for NeoGenomics Inc. in a strategic collaboration with Inivata for the commercialization of Cambridge, UK-headquartered Inivata’s InVisionFirst®-Lung liquid biopsy test in the United States
• Advised Pfizer Inc. on its agreement with AstraZeneca to acquire the development and commercialization rights to AstraZeneca’s late-stage small molecule anti-infectives business, primarily outside the United States
• Acted for TPG Capital, and its portfolio company Beaver-Visitec, in connection with the acquisition of Malosa Medical, a UK-based medical devices company

Real Estate

• Advised Blackstone Mortgage Trust and Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies in the financing of its $6.4 billion acquisition of the Crown Resorts luxury hotel and casino portfolio in Australia, one of Australia’s largest entertainment groups
• Advised Partners Group on its programmatic joint venture with ARA Dunedin, a European-focused real estate investor and manager, to build up a £250m UK logistics platform and on the joint venture’s first acquisition of a seven-asset portfolio from Regional REIT for £45m
• Advised Said Holdings on its sale of 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London to the Cheung Kei Group for £270m
• Advised Partners Group, a leading global private markets firm, acting on behalf of its clients, on its programmatic joint venture with Host Student Housing to build up a £1 billion UK purpose built student accommodation and co-living platform and on the joint venture’s first acquisition of a four-asset seed portfolio
• Advised King Street and Arax Properties on their joint venture acquisition of Alban Gate in the City of London for £295 million
• Acted for a major U.S. endowment fund and a US REIT on their acquisition of Buckingham Properties Limited, an entity owning various interests in 123 Buckingham Palace Road let to Google and other tenants for circa £200 million
• Acted for Blackstone Mortgage Trust on its US$4.2 billion financing of its US$4.8 billion loan portfolio acquisition from GE Capital Real Estate
• Acted for Angelo, Gordon & Co, Avenue Capital and Alchemy Partners on their joint acquisition of Avant Homes from Lloyds Banking Group