Freescale Semiconductor Inc. was bought for US$17.6 billion on December 1, 2006 by a private-equity consortium that was led by The Blackstone Group and included The Carlyle Group, Permira Funds and Texas Pacific Group. The consortium teamed up with Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec as an important co investment partner for this deal. The transaction resulted in the biggest leveraged buyout of a technology company. Freescale, which was spun off from Motorola Inc. in 2004, makes chips for many purposes, including cellphones and cars.
Caisse de dépôt was represented by in-house counsel Robert Côté and Louise Lalonde and by McCarthy Tétrault LLP with a team that included Patrick Boucher (private equity, securities), Frédérick Harvey (tax) and Nathalie Forcier (private equity, securities).
The private-equity consortium used Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP for US legal advice. The team included Peter Atkins, Allison Schneirov, Mark Smith, Alana Darnell, Meredith Fried, Thomas Ferree, Rick Maletsky and Michael Rosenblat (M&A),
Jennifer Bensch and Sunil Hosmane (corporate finance), Sarah Ward (banking and institutional investing), Karen Corman, Kristin Major and Kathleen Poole (labour and employment), Frederic Depoortere, Tero Louko and Dita Sole (antitrust), Richard Kalikow and Lisa Gootee (real estate), Don Frost, Jr., Kristin Larson and Elizabeth Malone (environmental), Regina Olshan and Alessandra Murata (employee benefits and executive compensation), Bruce Goldner, Elaine Ziff and Andrew Strobert (intellectual property & technology), Katherine Bristor and Lior Amir (tax), Mary Lou Steptoe and Brian Mohr (antitrust), Suling Lam and Jill Rickard (banking and institutional investing).
Freescale was represented by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati with a team including Larry Sonsini, Martin Korman, John Fore, Michael Ringler, Jason Sebring and Michelle Kley.
Caisse de dépôt was represented by in-house counsel Robert Côté and Louise Lalonde and by McCarthy Tétrault LLP with a team that included Patrick Boucher (private equity, securities), Frédérick Harvey (tax) and Nathalie Forcier (private equity, securities).
The private-equity consortium used Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP for US legal advice. The team included Peter Atkins, Allison Schneirov, Mark Smith, Alana Darnell, Meredith Fried, Thomas Ferree, Rick Maletsky and Michael Rosenblat (M&A),
Jennifer Bensch and Sunil Hosmane (corporate finance), Sarah Ward (banking and institutional investing), Karen Corman, Kristin Major and Kathleen Poole (labour and employment), Frederic Depoortere, Tero Louko and Dita Sole (antitrust), Richard Kalikow and Lisa Gootee (real estate), Don Frost, Jr., Kristin Larson and Elizabeth Malone (environmental), Regina Olshan and Alessandra Murata (employee benefits and executive compensation), Bruce Goldner, Elaine Ziff and Andrew Strobert (intellectual property & technology), Katherine Bristor and Lior Amir (tax), Mary Lou Steptoe and Brian Mohr (antitrust), Suling Lam and Jill Rickard (banking and institutional investing).
Freescale was represented by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati with a team including Larry Sonsini, Martin Korman, John Fore, Michael Ringler, Jason Sebring and Michelle Kley.
