Negotiating skills are an integral part of each successful business person’s career and are used in a wide range of business contexts, including deal-making, employment discussions, corporate team building, management talks, contracts, and handling disputes.

Who joined us? Rob Irving, White & Case, co-head of the EMEA private equity practice in our Global Mergers & Acquisitions Practice. Rob is regularly named a “Leading Lawyer” among the lawyers at the Global 50 law firms. In one of the most recent edition of Chambers Global, he was singled out as “one of the most knowledgeable lawyers in CEE, and combines his extensive experience in the region with outstanding negotiation skills.”

Rob Irving, White & Case, Partner, London, Budapest

Expertise

• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Project Finance
• Private Equity
• Real Estate
• Communications and Media
• Telecommunications
• European Private Equity

Practice Experience

Rob Irving is co-head of the EMEA private equity practice in our Global Mergers & Acquisitions Practice. He has worked on landmark transactions throughout CEE and Turkey since 1991.

In the last few years, Rob has led White & Case’s teams advising:

• The largest private equity firm dedicated to Emerging Europe (CEE and Turkey), in connection with:

  • its purchase of a majority stake in a leading private hospital operator based in Izmir, Turkey. The private equity firm concluded agreements to acquire an initial 65% stake, with options to increase its shareholding to 90% over time;
  • its €0.45 billion acquisition of a Baltic’s mobile operator from a Danish company;
  • together with a leading private equity fund focused on investments in the communications industry, on all aspects of their investment in one of the leading telecommunications service providers in Hungary, including their €470 million auction sale of the company to a U.S. publicly traded holding company;
  • A consortium of investors 75% controlled by funds managed or advised by a leading private equity firm, in its auction sale of 100% of the major provider of broadcasting and telecommunications tower infrastructure in the Czech Republic to three funds managed by a global financial institution, for total consideration of approximately €574 million;
  • An international healthcare group in connection with its acquisition of the largest private healthcare provider in Poland, for €400 million;
  • A consortium led by a private equity firm that invests exclusively in Emerging Europe (CEE and Turkey), in connection with the sale of a Turkish and Spanish automotive parts manufacturers, respectively, to a Turkish based private equity firm;
  • A leading Belgian food retail group in connection with the sale of one of its hypermarket business in Hungary to another French food retail company;
  • In the largest corporate deal in Slovenia in 2010, a financial holding company based in Slovenia, on its €382 million sale of a Southeastern European food and beverage company, to a Croatian food and healthcare company. This deal was shortlisted for the 2011 Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards;
  • One of the leading telecommunications service providers in Hungary in connection with:
  • the auction sale of its leading international wholesale business with operations in 15 countries, for €221 million;
  • the €1.5 billion acquisition by a leading CEE private equity firm of a 65% stake in the company and the complex restructuring of the company’s debt;
  • its €90.5 million purchase of 95.7% of the outstanding equity in one of the leading alternative infrastructure providers in CEE;
  • The largest investor in the private healthcare industry in CEE in connection with:

    • the €485 million sale of a kidney dialysis business to the world’s largest dialysis services provider;
    • in the auction sale of the company to a private equity consortium, for €800 million; and
    • The sellers of a preeminent Bulgarian consumer credit company in connection with the auction sale of 100% of the shares of the company.

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Patrons and Partners: