Nike Sells Bauer Hockey Subsidiary for US$200 Million

On April 16, 2008, an investor group led by Kohlberg & Co. and Canadian businessman W. Graeme Roustan completed its acquisition of the Bauer Hockey subsidiary of Nike Inc. for US$200 million in cash.

Kohlberg & Co. and Mr. Roustan were represented by Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, with a team led by Angelo Bonvino, Didier Malaquin, Paul Jones, Marta Kelly, Adam Miller, Frank Steinherr and Eric Stoller (corporate); Thomas V. de la Bastide III and Andrew J. Bates (financing); Charles H. Googe, Jr., Lindsay N. Silber and Julie E. Feldman (intellectual property); David W. Mayo and Heath Martin (tax); Maureen Riley and Lauri Penn (employee benefits); Meredith J. Kane and Stephan Steiner (real estate); and Gaines Gwathmey (environmental). Stikeman Elliott LLP provided Canadian advice to Kohlberg & Co. and Mr. Roustan with a team led by Ian G. Putnam, Adam J. Kline and Jonah Mann (corporate); Craig Mitchell, Justin Parappally and Jennifer Byun (financing); Marisia Campbell and Robert Galea (intellectual property); and Susan Thomson and Francesco Gucciardo (tax).

Nike Inc. was represented by Tonkon Torp LLP with a team that included Tom Palmer, Jeff Cronn, Tatiana Perry, Joshua Simko and Ari Okano (corporate); Mark LeRoux (tax); Chris Erickson and Vicki Ballou (intellectual property); David Petersen (real estate); and Darcy Norville (employee benefits). Torys LLP advised Nike on the Canadian side, with a team led by Sharon Geraghty, Michael Akkawi and Harris Kaplan (corporate); John Unger and Saira Bhojani (tax); Dennis Mahony, Michael Fortier and Tyson Dyck (environmental); Christina Medland, Tara Sastri and Stacey Parker-Yull (pension and employment); Sabrina Gherbaz and Nicole Maurer (real estate); Omar Wakil (regulatory); and Eric Boehm (privacy).

AEA Mezzanine Fund and Partners Group were the mezzanine debt providers to Kohlberg & Co. AEA Mezzanine Fund was represented in the US by Morrison Cohen LLP with a team that included Andrew Arsiotis and Keith Britton (finance), David Lerner (corporate and intellectual property), Isaac Grossman (tax) and Todd Garvelink (employee benefits). AEA was also represented by Mark Furse (environmental). In Canada, the fund was advised by Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP with a team that included Brian Wright and Jon Holmstrom (financing); Stephen Erlichman (corporate); Mark Penner (intellectual property); Ronald Nobrega (tax); and Charles Kazaz (environmental). Partners Group was advised by Ropes & Gray LLP with a team that included David McKay (corporate and finance) and Steven Shay (tax).

GE was provider of senior debt, represented by McCarthy Tétrault LLP with a team led by Richard Higa, Justin Lapedus, Greg Walters and Lisa Kennedy.