Freshfields is advising on the sale of a 26.9% stake in The Economist Group to Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith, with Slaughter and May understood to be acting for the buyer.
Both firms have been active on media deals, with Freshfields advising on Axel Springer’s £575 million deal for The Telegraph.
Freshfields is advising on the sale of a major stake in The Economist Group to Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith, with Slaughter and May understood to be acting for the buyer.
The 26.9% stake is being sold by Lynn Forester de Rothschild, with Smith paying around £300 million, according to the Financial Times. The holding includes roughly 20% of the voting rights.
The publishing group, which was founded in 1843, reported revenues last year of £369 million and a profit of £48 million.
Subject to trustee approval, the stake will be added to Smith Financial’s portfolio, which already features several financial services businesses and the proxy advisory group Glass Lewis.
Mortgage magnate Smith is estimated by Forbes to be worth around $7 billion. He co-founded First National Financial in 1988, and sold around two-thirds of his stake in the mortgage lender when it was acquired for $2.1 billion last year.
Deals in legacy media
Slaughter and May is understood to be advising Smith Financial, with M&A partner Christian Boney leading the team. The firm declined to comment when approached by Non-Billable.
Freshfields is acting for Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, her family and associated entities, with a deal led by London partners Oliver Lazenby and Alastair Mordaunt.
Both firms have been active in the media sector. Slaughters acted for DMGT on its attempted £500 million acquisition of the Telegraph Media Group from RedBird IMI last year.
That process concluded earlier this month when Freshfields-advised Axel Springer agreed a £575 million all-cash deal for the business.
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