Freshfields and Slaughters lead £11bn EQT takeover of FTSE 100 Intertek

Freshfields and Slaughter and May are leading on EQT's £10.9 billion acquisition of FTSE 100 Intertek, the latest in a string of deals that see foreign investors take London-listed businesses off the exchange.

Freshfields is acting for the Swedish private capital firm, which is acquiring the quality assurance company alongside minority shareholders including Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds: Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Mubadala Investment Company.

Slaughter and May is acting for Intertek, which provides assurance, testing, inspection and certification services for more than 1,000 laboratories worldwide spanning consumer goods, foods, pharmaceuticals and industrial products.

The company rejected three previous takeover bids before reaching a preliminary agreement with EQT last month.

The takeover is expected to complete in the final quarter of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027. 

Delist and lawyer up

Several large listed British companies have been bought off the stock market by foreign buyers this year, with investors seeking to capitalise on undervalued UK businesses.

The trend has created lucrative public M&A work for City law firms. Slaughter and May in particular has captured many of these mandates on both sides of the table.

The Magic Circle firm advised insurance giant Zurich on its takeover of Beazley, who was advised by Freshfields in a familiar match up., Earlier this year, Clifford Chance acted for asset manager Nuveen in its £9.9 billion takeover and take-private of Schroders, advised by Slaughter and May. 

Slaughters also advised UK-listed tech manufacturer Senior on its take-private and acquisition by Blackstone and Tinicum in a deal involving a major roster of law firms. 

Advising 

The Freshfields team is led by an all-London partner team including newly appointed UK managing partner Victoria Sigeti, Piers Prichard Jones, Kate Cooper, Mark Brewer, Angus Scott and Lucy Cliff.

Simpson Thacher and Swedish firm Vinge are acting as regulatory counsel to the buyers.

The Simpson Thacher team includes London/Brussels partners Antonio Bavasso and Josh Buckland, advising on UK antitrust and foreign direct investment. Partners Karen Kazmerzak (Washington, D.C.) and Kelly Kapetyan (New York) are advising on US antitrust, and Mark Skerry (Washington, D.C.) is advising on foreign investment regulation. Vinge partner Sebastian Orndhal is also providing regulatory advice.

Linklaters is acting as legal adviser to Luxinva, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Abu Dhabi partner Nicholas Edwards and London partner Richard Spedding are on the team. Clifford Chance is advising Mubadala.

The Slaughters team includes corporate partners David Watkins and Natalie Cook and competition partner William Turtle.