Freshfields lands another major US mandate with Lowe's $8.8bn buyout

Freshfields has landed another major M&A mandate in the US, advising home improvement giant Lowe’s on its $8.8 billion cash acquisition of Foundation Building Materials.

Foundation Building Materials is a leading distributor of drywall and other construction products with a footprint of more than 370 locations across the US and Canada. The deal is expected to accelerate Lowe’s strategy to strengthen its offering to professional customers.

Lowe’s, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has annual revenues of more than $80 billion and a market value above $140 billion.

Advising

The Freshfields team is being led by New York M&A partners Damien Zoubek and Jenny Hochenberg, supported by lawyers across tax, real estate, competition, finance, employment, IP and capital markets.

Weil is advising Foundation Building Materials and its private equity owners American Securities and CD&R.

US momentum

The transaction is the latest sign of Freshfields’ growing momentum in the US M&A market.

Just last month, the firm advised Merck on its $10 billion acquisition of UK-headquartered Verona Pharma - another deal led by star dealmakers Zoubek and Hochenberg, who joined from New York royalty Cravath three years ago as part of Freshfields’ push to build a top-tier US corporate practice.

Since then, the pair have become central to the firm’s US strategy, with Freshfields bringing in dozens of lateral partners in New York from rivals including Skadden and Davis Polk. The firm has also been expanding its footprint, most recently opening in Boston and adding depth to its Silicon Valley base, as it steps up competition with the traditional New York elite for billion-dollar mandates.