Paul Weiss and CC set for bumper payday from easyJet takeover

Paul Weiss and Clifford Chance are in line for bumper paydays from Apollo’s £5.7 billion take-private of easyJet, with £57 million set aside for legal fees alone.

Apollo expects to spend £39.2 million on legal advisers, according to the scheme document for the deal, with lead counsel Paul Weiss expected to take the largest share. Watson Farley & Williams is also acting for Apollo as aviation counsel.

EasyJet has set aside £17.9 million for legal fees, with Clifford Chance acting as lead adviser to the airline.

The takeover was agreed over the summer after Apollo ultimately outbid fellow private equity firm Castlelake for the FTSE 250 airline.

Blockbuster fees

Paul Weiss is acting for Apollo on one of its biggest UK public M&A mandates to date, with London corporate partners Dan Schuster-Woldan and Matthew Hearn leading the team.

Clifford Chance’s team for easyJet is led by London corporate partners Melissa Fogarty, Katherine Moir and James Bole.

Macfarlanes is separately advising easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.

The legal fees form part of a much bigger payday for advisers on the deal. Banks, lawyers, accountants and public relations firms are together expected to receive £334 million, making the takeover one of the City’s most lucrative deals of the year.

Take-private wave

City firms have picked up a steady stream of high-value mandates from the wave of London take-privates this year.

Ingredion’s takeover of Tate & Lyle set aside around £40 million for legal fees, with Linklaters and Hogan Lovells among the advisers.

Schroders’ £9.9 billion sale to Nuveen generated roughly £40 million in legal fees, with Clifford Chance acting for the buyer and Slaughter and May for Schroders.

EQT’s £10.9 billion acquisition of Intertek set aside around £44 million for legal advisers, with Freshfields and Slaughter and May leading.