Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises banks on the US$12.5 billion acquisition facility for SABMiller plc in connection with its takeover bid for Foster's Group Limited

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has advised the mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners, BBVA, Banc of America, Barclays, Citi, J.P. Morgan, Mizuho, Morgan Stanley, Santander, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and RBS, on the US$12.5 billion acquisition facility for SABMiller plc ("SABMiller") in connection with its takeover bid for Foster's Group Limited ("Foster's").

The Foster's board has recommended a bid by SABMiller, the world's second largest brewer, which values Foster's at A$12.3bn.

Partner Geeta Khehar comments: "We are delighted to have worked with our clients on one of the most significant cross-border financings this year, and one of the most significant acquisitions in the Australian market for a number of years. Our global resources and expertise (in particular, on this occasion, the market knowledge and technical expertise of our offices in Australia) enable us to execute these types of complex cross-border financings seamlessly."

Partner Scott Bache adds: "Being able to work on such deals is one of the reasons we established a presence in Australia. We are confident that our existing clients, and prospective Australia-based clients, will be pleased that we can now act for them on Australian financings."

The Clifford Chance team comprised partners Geeta Khehar (Banking & Finance, London), Scott Bache (Banking & Finance, Sydney), Jason Mendens and Danny Simmons (Corporate, Sydney) and Jay Gavigan (Banking & Finance, New York), senior associate David Robson (Banking & Finance, London) and local team members in London, Sydney and New York.