Leading international law firm Clifford Chance is advising ICG Strategic Equity (ICG) on a single-asset restructuring of Providence Equity Partner’s 2007-vintage fund for HSE24 Multichannel.
HSE24 Multichannel is a leading European home-shopping network which provides television, online and mobile shopping solutions and is headquartered in Germany with operations in Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Russia. The transaction will result in HSE24 being acquired by a continuation vehicle backed by ICG, offering a certain liquidity option for investors in Providence’s 2007-vintage fund whilst securing an extended hold period to enable the continued implementation of Providence’s and management’s value strategy.
Singapore partners Tom Lin and Daryl Liu co-led the transaction. Tom said, “We are delighted to assist ICG on another important transaction and deliver wide-ranging expertise from across our global network. As volatile market conditions continue to pose challenges, it is exciting to see how the rapidly evolving secondaries market navigates such challenges to offer flexible solutions for GPs, LPs and portfolio companies through increasingly bespoke transactions.”
Daryl added, “GPs and LPs alike are quickly recognising the win-win situation that GP-led transactions can bring to the table, and gaining confidence in secondaries as a viable liquidity solution. We are thrilled to have worked with ICG on this significant transaction at a particularly interesting time in the market.”
Tom and Daryl led a core deal team from Singapore comprising senior associates Alice Ho and Chloe Cheng and associates Wei Xun Toh and Mark Hee. In London, Tax partner Anthony Stewart and associate Ted Meddick-Dyson advised on the tax aspects of the transaction. Frankfurt partner Thomas Krecek led a multi-disciplinary team on the German legal aspects, including senior associate Moritz Petersen and associate Lara Stelmach (corporate M&A). Antitrust advice was provided by partners Richard Blewett in Hong Kong and Marc Besen in Düsseldorf and counsel Dimitri Slobodenjuk and associate Anna Maurer (Düsseldorf).
Completion remains subject to conditions and is expected to occur in quarter 3 2020.
Amongst other transactions, Clifford Chance also advised ICG on the spin-out of Standard Chartered’s private equity business which completed in July 2019 and was reportedly the largest complex secondary transaction in Asia to date.
