Sidley, CMS, and Milbank advise on latest £545m UK take-private

Sidley Austin, CMS and Milbank have landed roles on the £545 million takeover of London-listed automotive software company Pinewood Technologies by US private equity firm Ridgeview Partners.

Sidley is advising San Francisco-based Ridgeview and its acquisition vehicle, CMS is acting for Pinewood, and Milbank is advising the lenders on the acquisition financing.

The recommended deal will take the company private less than three years after it spun out of car dealership group Pendragon, became a standalone software business and began trading independently on the LSE in February 2024.

The acquisition is expected to complete in December.

Tech take-private

Pinewood provides cloud-based software to automotive retailers and manufacturers, with customers across 36 countries and more than 50 automotive brands.

The private equity firm plans to invest further in Pinewood's data and AI capabilities and support its expansion in North America.

The deal adds to a run of private equity-backed take-privates of London-listed companies this year, including EQT's £10.9 billion Intertek deal, OCS's £3.1 billion takeover of Mitie and Blackstone and Tinicum's £1.4 billion acquisition of Senior.

Advising

Sidley's team is led by M&A and private equity partners Daniel Belke in Los Angeles and James Wood and Ed Perry in London.

The CMS team is led by corporate partner James Parkes and lead associate Kieran O’Brien in London.

Milbank is advising the lenders on the acquisition financing, with its team led by European leveraged finance and capital markets partner Sarbajeet Nag and global corporate partner Andrew Nuthall in London.