March 19, 2012 5:32 PM

Freshfields, A&O Advise on UPS's $6.8 Billion Bid for Dutch Rival

Posted by Tom Huddleston Jr.

UPDATE: 3/21/12 1:00 p.m. EST, Attorneys from Freshfields have been added in the fourth paragraph.

In a deal announced Monday, United Parcel Service has agreed to buy Dutch shipping company TNT Express for $6.8 billion after initially being spurned.

The deal's terms call for Atlanta-based UPS to pay $12.58 a share in cash for TNT Express—a 54 percent premium over the target company's trading price on February 16, the day before UPS confirmed that it was considering a TNT Express takeover. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the third quarter of the year, according to the Associated Press.

If consummated, the deal would qualify as the largest acquisition in UPS's 105-year history, surpassing the company's 2005 purchase of Overnite Corporation for $1.2 billion, The New York Times notes. With $60 billion in combined sales, about 36 percent of the expanded UPS's revenue would be generated outside the United States, compared with 26 percent today.

For counsel on the matter, UPS turned to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, with a corporate team that includes partners Jan Willem van der Staay and Alexander Doorman. Also advising are antitrust partners Winfred Knibbeler and Alan Ryan, as well as tax partner Machiel Lambooij and employment partner Brechje Nollen. Teri Plummer McClure is chief legal and compliance officer for UPS.

For its part, TNT Express has turned to an Allen & Overy team in Amsterdam led by corporate partners Jan Louis Burggraaf and Tim Stevens. Antitrust partner Paul Glazener also is working on the matter. Jan Ernst de Groot is TNT Express's general counsel. Last year, the firm advised the company in its split from its parent company and a subsequent public listing.

Sullivan & Cromwell corporate partner William Plapinger is representing Goldman Sachs International in its role as financial adviser to TNT Express in connection with the acquisition.

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