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Clifford Chance advises Cinven on its £2.3bn of sale of AMCo to Concordia

8 September 2015

Clifford Chance advises Cinven on its £2.3bn of sale of AMCo to Concordia

International law firm Clifford Chance advised leading European private equity firm Cinven on its £2.3bn sale of Amdipharm Mercury Company Limited (AMCo), the niche specialty pharmaceuticals group, to TSX/Nasdaq-listed Concordia Healthcare Corporation (Concordia).

Clifford Chance acted for private equity firm Cinven when it acquired Amdipharm and Mercury Pharma in 2012 to create AMCO. That mandate won Clifford Chance 'Corporate Finance Team of the Year' at The Lawyer Awards 2013. Since then Clifford Chance have advised AMCo on executing its buy-and-build strategy by advising on all of its five bolt-on acquisitions and all related financings.

This year, Clifford Chance advised AMCo on its its acquisition of Australian pharmaceutical company, Boucher and Muir, supporting the client's strategy of international expansion into key territories as well as the acquisition of Primegen Limited a speciality pharma business in the UK. Prior to these transactions, Clifford Chance advised on AMCo's acquisition of UK-based Focus Pharmaceuticals, Swedish Abcur AB and the global Fucithalmic® pharmaceutical product business from Danish pharmaceutical company LEO Pharma A/S.

The core team that advised on the deal which created AMCo has continued to advise throughout the life of Cinven's investment and the sale to Concordia. The team, led by Global Private Equity Lead Partner Jonny Myers and supported by Senior Associates Christopher Sullivan and Toby Parkinson  has supported AMCo on M&A, refinancings and general corporate matters.

Jonny Myers commented: "This is a major strategic  deal for Cinven being the first exit from Fund V plus a major deal in its own right and we are delighted to have supported them. We have known AMCo throughout the life of Cinven's investment and have helped Amco's management and Cinven to execute their buy-and-build strategy with five acquisitions in three years. It is with great pleasure we see AMCo move to the next phase of its development under Concordia's ownership"

The cross-practice team advising Cinven on its sale of AMCo, which announced today, was led by Global Private Equity Head  Jonny Myers supported by Senior Associates Christopher Sullivan and Toby Parkinson and Associate Oliver Marcuse in private equity M&A.  Partner Alastair Mordaunt and Senior Associate Petra Carey advised on anti-trust matters, and on debt financing matters Partner Rod McGillivray and Senior Associate Gaye Duren advised on the leveraged loan elements together with Michael Dakin and Claudia Kim advising on high yield.