ProfessionalsCian O’Connor
Tel: +44-20-7367-1619
Fax: +44-20-7681-1249
coconnor@paulweiss.com
coconnor@paulweiss.com
A partner in the Tax Department, Cian O’Connor advises clients on a wide range of U.K. and international tax matters, with a focus on private equity and real estate tax structuring. Cian has handled the tax aspects of a wide range of complex cross-border deals, including acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures, financings, restructurings and capital markets offerings. He also advises on tax considerations in fund formation and portfolio company matters. Cian represents leading private equity sponsors, sovereign wealth funds, real estate investors, corporate clients and financial institutions. Cian is recommended for Corporate Tax by Legal 500 UK.
EXPERIENCE
Cian’s recent representative matters include advising:
- GIC in:
- its establishment of a €400 million joint venture platform with Melcombe Partners, a U.K.-based asset manager and adviser
- the £694 million acquisition of a 75% stake in the majority of Paddington Central assets from British Land
- its $525 million joint venture with Equinix to develop and operate two xScale™ data centers in South Korea
- its $3.9 billion additional joint ventures with Equinix to expand the xScale™ data center program
- its joint venture with Kennedy Wilson to acquire and manage urban logistics properties in the U.K., Ireland and Spain, targeting total assets of $1 billion
- its joint venture with Melcombe Partners to acquire and develop urban logistics properties in Europe
- the over $1 billion co-investment with Equinix to develop and operate xScale™ data centers in Japan
- the €950 million buyout acquisition of a pan-European logistics platform from Apollo
- the $1 billion acquisition of Equinix's pan European hyperscale data center business
- Blackstone:
- in the £4.66 billion acquisition of iQ Student Accommodation
- in the recommended £4.77 billion cash offer for Merlin Entertainments, a global leader in location-based, family entertainment
- in its acquisition of the business and assets of Murka, a developer and promoter of social casino gaming applications for mobile devices and social media, based in Cyprus and Ukraine
- in its acquisition of a portfolio of European logistics assets from Marathon (in partnership with Industrial Securities, part of MARCOL) for €492 million
- and Telereal Trillium in the £1.46 billion privatization of Network Rail’s commercial estate
- Brookfield in:
- the all-cash voluntary public takeover offer for Befimmo, a real estate investor focused on office buildings and co-working spaces in Brussels and Luxembourg
- its acquisition and financing of the SACO (Serviced Apartment Company) platform from Oaktree Capital Management
- Funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management in its:
- $700 million capital solution to Sony Music Group, an affiliate of Sony Group Corporation, for investments in the music industry
- $6.3 billion acquisition of International Game Technology’s gaming and digital business IGT Gaming and Everi Holdings
- Enstar Group, a Bermuda-based insurance company, in its $5.1 billion sale to Sixth Street and other institutional investors
- Brighton Park Capital in its $112 million investment in PortSwigger
- RXO in its $1.025 billion acquisition of Coyote Logistics from UPS
- Noble Corporation in its $2.1 billion acquisition of Diamond Offshore Drilling
- Apollo Global Management as a lender to Ardagh Group in connection with its €1.0 billion plus financing to refinance Ardagh’s 2025 notes and bond buyback
- La Doria S.p.A., a portfolio company of Investindustrial, in its issuance of €525 million of senior secured floating rate notes
- The Ardonagh Group in its offering of $1 billion of senior notes, $750 million of senior secured notes and €500 million of senior secured notes
- Investindustrial in the financing aspects of its:
- investment in Fassi Group
- acquisition, alongside The Bagnoli Family, of Forno d'Asolo from BC Partners
- United Group, which is majority-owned by BC Partners, in its €1.7 billion refinancing, which included fixed and floating rate senior secured notes and senior holdco pay-if-you-can PIK notes
- Fedrigoni, portfolio company of Bain Capital and BC Partners, in its offering of €665 million of high-yield bonds
- General Atlantic in its acquisition of:
- Actis, a leading global investor in sustainable infrastructure with approximately $12.5 billion in AUM
- a majority stake in Joe & the Juice
- TA Associates and Warburg Pincus in their joint acquisition of Epassi Group, and in Epassi’s combination with Exercite
- Beacon Rail in its definitive agreement to acquire Mitsui Rail Capital Europe
- Galderma in a private placement round of approximately $1 billion for newly issued shares
- The Lycra Company in the completion of a comprehensive debt refinancing
- Travelodge in its high-yield refinancing and shareholder distribution
- Noble in its $600 million offering of senior notes
- A sovereign wealth fund in the acquisition of a pan-European logistics portfolio for over €3 billion from EQT Exeter
- TPG Real Estate in:
- its strategic joint venture with Gatehouse Bank
- its c. €300 million acquisition of Témpore Properties, a Spanish Real Estate Investment Trust
- Consortium and KKR in the $15 billion all-cash acquisition of CyrusOne Inc. a premier global data centre REIT
- Cushman & Wakefield in the launch of an underwritten public offering of 12,500,000 ordinary shares
- Thoma Bravo in the strategic investment in Condeco, a global leader in workspace scheduling technology
- Eagle Street Partners in the formation of a joint venture with Harrison Street to acquire and develop a 554-residential-unit multiphase development at East Road in Dublin, Ireland
- SK Capital in the formation of a consortium with Heubach Group and the subsequent acquisition of Clariant's Pigments business
- Hg in:
- an innovative £455 million NAV financing of the portfolio of Hg Saturn, a 2018-vintage fund with £1.5 billion in commitments
- the £425 million financing of Hg Genesis 8 portfolio
- Thomas H. Lee Partners and AutoStore in the $2.8 billion sale of a 40% stake of AutoStore to SoftBank
- Preservation Capital in the £100 million acquisition of Parmenion Capital, a provider of investment services and technology solutions for financial advice firms
- SOF-12 Cambridge BidCo Limited, owned by Starwood Funds, in the c. £467.9 million recommended cash offer for RDI REIT
- AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets in the acquisition of the Kadans Science Partner platform
- Orion Capital Managers in the aborted £400 million acquisition of a portfolio of sevenretail parks from Hammerson plc
- Oakley Capital in:
- in the financing aspects of its investment in Steer Automotive Group
- the sale of WebPros to CVC
- An EQT-led consortium in the CHF 10.2 billion exclusive negotiations to acquire Nestlé Skin Health, a leading global skincare company
- A consortium consisting of Apax, Warburg Pincus, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in the $3.4 billion take private of Inmarsat, a British satellite communications group
- Funds advised by Apax Partners in the acquisition of Genius Sports, a London based global leader in sport data technology, distribution and commercialization services
- Ares in the acquisition of a portfolio of mixed use commercial properties across Europe
- GLP in:
- its acquisition of European logistics business IDI Gazeley from Brookfield Asset Management for approximately US$2.8 billion. Gazeley is one of the leading owners and operators of logistics facilities in Europe with a portfolio of over 3 million sq meters in the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands
- its bid for Logicor
- Goldman Sachs, Park Square and NGA Human Resources in the sale of NGA’s UK mid-market and small and medium business divisions to Bain Capital Private Equity
- TDR Capital, Sun Capital and their portfolio company Keepmoat Limited on the sale of Keepmoat’s regeneration arm to energy and services provider