Freshfields guides PE consortium on $6bn Clear Channel buyout

Freshfields has landed a major US M&A mandate, advising the buying consortium on the $6.2 billion take-private of outdoor media group Clear Channel Outdoor.

The New York-listed billboard giant has agreed to be acquired by a consortium led by Mubadala Capital, the investment arm of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, alongside US investment firm TWG Global. Private equity heavyweight Apollo is also investing as part of the transaction.

The all-cash deal values Clear Channel at $6.2 billion, including debt. The company is one of the world’s largest outdoor advertising groups, operating billboards and airport displays across the US and Europe.

Mubadala has been actively buying up US companies recently. It teamed up with Bain Capital to buy HVAC services company Service Logic at the end of last year, not long after Mubadala-backed insurance company Aquarian agreed to buy US life insurer Brighthouse Financial in a $4 billion deal.

Advising

Freshfields is advising the buyer consortium, led by Mubadala and TWG Global. The deal team is led by New York partners Ethan Klingsberg, co-head of US corporate and M&A, and Oliver Board and includes teams across finance, capital markets, employment, tax and regulatory.

Kirkland & Ellis is acting for Clear Channel, with a team including corporate partners David Klein in New York, Patrick Salvo in Austin and Daniel Wolf in New York.

Davis Polk is advising TWG Global on the deal, with a corporate team led by partner Michael Davis and counsel Alon Benjamin Harish, both based in New York.