Matheson advised Monument Re on its acquisition of a run-off portfolio of linked and traditional business from MetLife Europe DAC, initially through reinsurance to Monument Re followed, upon receipt of court approvals, by the transfer of the portfolio to Laguna Life DAC. The portfolio covers in excess of 9,000 policies, with assets of approximately €500 million. Transfer of the portfolio will follow satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals.
Brian McCloskey
Darren Maher
Matheson advised FEXCO and Goodbody on the proposed acquisition of Goodbody Stockbrokers by a Chinese consortium led by the Zhongze Group. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close by the end of the year and will see the Consortium take 100% ownership of Goodbody.
Ciaran Healy
Patrick Spicer
Matheson advised Motive Partners, a US private equity firm, on its investment in Global Shares plc. The deal, which is subject to customary closing conditions (including regulatory clearance), is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018. Motive Partners is a sector-specific investment firm focused on technology-enabled companies that power the financial services industry.
Brian McCloskey
Matheson advised Follett on its acquisition of Fishtree, a leading adaptive learning platform that streamlines both the technical integration and educational adoption of personalized learning in school classrooms. Follett Corporation is the world's largest single source of books, entertainment products, digital content and multi-media for libraries, schools and retailers. Illinois, Follett provides education technology, services and physical and digital content to millions of students at 70,000 schools more than 2,850 physical and virtual campus stores in North America. The Fishtree platform brings together district-wide resources for every subject, aligns them to any standard or competency and then personalizes the experience for each student based on specific learning profiles, while providing a streamlined user experience for the educator and administrator.
Matheson recently advised San Diego based Zavante Therapeutics on its acquisition by Irish registered, NASDAQ listed, Nabriva Therapeutics plc. in a deal that involved the issuance of upfront consideration in the form of Nabriva shares. Nabriva is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the research and development of novel anti-infective agents to treat serious infections. Zavante is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapies to improve the outcomes of hospitalized patients.
Patrick Spicer
Mark O’Sullivan
Fergus Bolster
Vahan Tchrakian
Matheson recently advised West Coast based Druva Inc., the global leader in cloud data protection and management, on its acquisition of CloudRanger, an Irish based tech company that specializes in providing backup and disaster recovery services for Amazon Web Services Inc.’s public cloud.
Fergus Bolster
Vahan Tchrakian
Matheson advised Canadian-owned Irving Oil on its acquisition of Top Oil. The acquisition will complete once all conditions of the sale have been met (including approval by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission in Ireland). Founded in 1924, Irving Oil operates Canada’s largest refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick, along with more than 900 fuelling locations and a network of distribution terminals spanning Canada and New England. It also operates Ireland’s only refinery, located in Whitegate, Co. Cork.
George Brady
Garret Farrelly
Matheson advises Bregal Milestone on its investment in Arkphire, one of the fastest growing Irish technology solutions company. Bregal Milestone is a private equity firm dedicated to investing in high growth European companies. Arkphire has been ranked as one of the fastest growing companies in Ireland offering its customers a full range of technology solutions from the desktop to the data centre. Arkphire’s strong customer base of multinationals, public sector agencies and Irish organisations expands across various sectors including finance, healthcare, pharma and telecommunications. Partnering with Bregal Milestone will strengthen Arkphire’s market position and enable the company to continue its rapid pace of growth.
Brian McCloskey
Matheson advised Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch as Arranger and Lead Manager, in relation to the €138 million asset backed securities issued by Citizen Irish Auto Receivables Trust 2018 DAC in December 2018. The transaction represents the second public securitisation by First Citizen Finance DAC. The transaction is a 12 month revolving cash securitisation of car loans (hire purchase contracts and leases) extended to Irish borrowers by First Citizen Finance DAC. The Class A Notes were rated AAA / Aaa by S&P and Moody’s respectively. A notable and novel feature of the transaction is that the revolving period is structured so as to enable Citizen Irish Auto Receivables Trust 2018 DAC to replenish its portfolio of car loans on a daily basis for an initial 12 month period. First Citizen Finance DAC has stated that: “the replenishment feature, the first of its kind in an Irish securitisation, means we can tap into additional funds through next year without having to organise a full new securitisation”. S&P have described the replenishment feature as “unique in the context of revolving deals”. The transaction was fully documented under Irish law and the securities were listed on the Main Securities Market of Euronext Dublin.
Turlough Galvin
David Kiernan
Matheson recently advised a syndicate of lenders (consisting of Bank of Ireland, Wells Fargo, Barclays Bank Ireland and AIB) in relation to the refinancing of Hibernia REIT’s €400 million revolving credit facility. The overall new arrangement consists of a €320 million unsecured revolving facility as well as €75 million of unsecured US private placement notes. This transaction was unique in the Irish market, in the sense that it was the first Irish REIT to move to an unsecured debt structure. Hibernia REIT plc is a Dublin-focused REIT which owns and develops Irish property. Its current portfolio is valued at €1.3 billion.
Peter O’Brien
Matheson's Asset Management and Investment Funds Department has once again been ranked by the Monterey Insight Ireland Fund Report, the leading independent industry survey, as Ireland's leading practice by assets under management. The 2018 Monterey report, published on 16 December, reveals that Matheson now acts for 30% of Irish domiciled investment funds by assets under management as at 30 June 2018, placing us top of the table by market share for both Irish domiciled and serviced funds, for the eighth year in a row. This increase in our market share, in what is an ever growing market, places us over 9% clear of our next nearest competitor. The wider fund report indicates that the Irish fund industry is at an all-time high with fund assets serviced in Ireland up by 11.7%, equating to US$3,677.7 billion as at end June 2018, up from US$3,293.3 billion for the same time last year. Total fund assets for Irish domiciled funds alone has increased by 13.7%, with the number of funds and sub funds now at 5,229, up from 4,992 in 2017.
Tara Doyle
Matheson recently advised international lender, HSH Nordbank AG, on its financing of a proposed onshore wind farm near Clogheravaddy, County Donegal. Clogheravaddy Wind Farm is being developed by ABO Wind, a leading renewable energy developer in the Irish and European markets. Matheson worked closely on this transaction with Hogan Lovells (Hamburg) who advised HSH Nordbank as German law counsel on the transaction.
Garret Farrelly
Peter O’Brien
