Allen & Overy advises Samsung Life Insurance in relation to its 20% equity acquisition of the French infrastructure investment and management company Meridiam.
Samsung Life Insurance, the largest insurance company in South Korea and a Fortune Global 500 company, announced on April 20th the acquisition of a 20% minority stake in Meridiam, one of Europe’s leading private equity firm focused on infrastructure investment, recognized as one of the top asset management firms in the global environmental, social and corporate governance investment market.
With operations in 11 countries, Meridiam has made around 100 investments in Europe, North America and Africa in environmentally friendly infrastructure projects, including public services, sustainable infrastructure development, renewable energy and de-carbonization solutions.
With this acquisition, Samsung Life Insurance becomes the second-largest shareholder of Meridiam and will join its supervisory board.
The deal involved a cross-border team at Allen & Overy, led in Paris by partner Jean-Claude Rivalland, counsel Anne-Caroline Payelle and associate Antoine Messent in M&A. Partner Mia Dassas and associate Mélanie Baraghid intervened on the regulatory aspects, and associate Donia Keriche on the funds aspects. Regulatory support in the US was provided by Senior Counsel Hilary Seo, partner Bill Satchel and their team.
A&O fielded a multi-disciplinary due diligence team across corporate, regulatory, tax, IP and HR across offices in Paris, Luxembourg, Washington, New York and Amsterdam.
