Herbert Smith Freehills has advised The Weir Group PLC on the agreed £275 million sale of its Flow Control Division to First Reserve, a US private equity firm, following an auction process. Weir's Flow Control Division specialises in the design and manufacture of valves, pumps, and controls for the global power generation, downstream oil & gas and industrial sectors. The transaction, which is subject to customary regulatory approvals, is expected to complete in the second quarter of 2019.
The Flow Control Division has operations around the world, and Herbert Smith Freehills provided seamless global advice to Weir on the transaction.
The team was led from London by corporate partner Mike Flockhart and senior associate Rich Woods, with support from corporate associates George Clarke and Hannah Lee, and included UK Head of Media and Digital Hayley Brady, TMT associate Terence Lau, tax associate Perminder Gainda, and pensions associate Michael Aherne. The team also included lawyers from HSF in Paris, Brussels, Johannesburg, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Seoul and Beijing.
Mike Flockhart commented: "We are honoured to have acted as lead counsel to Weir, a FTSE 250 company and one of the UK's leading engineering businesses, on two major M&A transactions within 12 months. This is testament to the depth of our M&A practice around the world, as well as our sectoral strengths in the mining and energy industries. We look forward to continuing to help Weir achieve its strategic objectives".
HSF previously advised Weir on its $1.3 billion acquisition of ESCO Corporation which was announced in April 2018 and completed in July 2018. This transaction was led by Mike Flockhart and corporate senior associate Heidi Gallagher.
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