European lottery operator Allwyn Entertainment is currently going through a public merger, and Kirkland & Ellis and Clifford Chance have been brought on as Allwyn’s counsel. Allwyn is set to merge with a blank check firm backed by a former advisor to President Donald Trump, which is represented by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
The deal values Allwyn, a leading multinational lottery operator, at $9.3 billion, including debt. It will result in the Lucerne, Switzerland-based company listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Approximately 83% ownership in the company is expected to be retained by current Allwyn equity holders, and no new shareholder of the Company will own a stake of more than 5% immediately following the transaction.
Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) raise funds through IPOs to merge with privately held companies and take them public. Gary Cohn, who was economic advisor to President Trump, set up the SPAC merging with Allwyn.
Kirkland said in a statement that the team advising Allwyn and its majority owner, KKCG Investment Group, is led by corporate partners Steven Li, Jonathan Davis, and Emily Lichtenheld, and capital markets partners Peter Seligson and Tim Volkheimer.
Clifford Chance did not make publicly available the names of its attorneys working on the transaction. According to the firm’s website, it previously advised KKCG on its buyout of SAZKA Group AS. SAZKA is a subsidiary of the since re-named Allwyn.
Handling the other side of Allwyn’s blank check merger are Skadden M&A partners Howard Ellin and June Dipchand. Capital markets partners Gregg Noel and Michelle Gasaway are advising the SPAC, according to a statement released by the firm.
Noel and Gasaway were also the partners responsible for advising the SPAC on its September 2020 IPO, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Among the attorneys advising the underwriter was Kirkland’s Seligson.
Winston & Strawn is representing the banks that secured investors for the roughly $350 million private investment in public equity, or PIPE, that’s part of the SPAC merger.
