Bruce M. Buck has been practicing law in Europe since 1983. As the partner in charge of Skadden’s European offices, his work includes a broad range of mergers, acquisitions and capital markets transactions, including initial public offerings and high-yield transactions. Mr. Buck has been involved in work in Central and Eastern Europe, and Russia in particular, since 1990. He has been directly overseeing the firm’s Russian practice since the opening of the Moscow office in 1992. Mr. Buck also is the chairman and a director of Chelsea FC plc. Mr. Buck is admitted to the Bar of the State of New York and is a registered foreign lawyer in England and Wales.
Mr. Buck’s mergers and acquisitions practice has involved some of the highest profile transactions involving Russian companies. His initial work in Russia involved a joint venture between a U.K. company and a Russian government owned company to provide heavy cargo lift using the Antonov 124 aircraft, which provided services to allied forces during the Gulf War.
Mr. Buck’s M&A experience also has included advising the controlling shareholders of Sibneft in the US$13.1 billion sale of a 72 percent stake in Sibneft to OAO Gazprom; OAO Rosneft Oil Company in its proposed acquisition by OAO Gazprom; the first hostile takeover in Russia relating to the Red October Chocolate Factory; the merger of Yukos and Sibneft in 2003 and the negotiation of related shareholder arrangements; a private equity firm in its acquisition of an indirect 41 percent interest in Evraz Group S.A.; YUKOS Oil Company and Yukos Finance B.V in the acquisition of a 27 percent stake in AB Mazeikiu Nafta; and the acquisition of Chelsea Football Club by an investment vehicle for Roman Abramovich.
Mr. Buck’s capital markets experience includes advising, with respect to initial public offerings, the joint global coordinators on the IPO of New World Resources N.V. (NWR) raising €1.4 billion listing on the London Stock Exchange, Prague Stock Exchange and Warsaw Stock Exchange; OJSC Pharmstandard, in its US$1 billion IPO of shares and GDRs; and the joint global coordinators, joint bookrunners and joint lead managers and co-manager in the US$1 billion IPO of GDRs and shares by OJSC Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK). He also represented RAZGULAY Group OJSC with the U.K. and U.S. aspects of its US$144 million IPO; the US$565 million IPO and listing on the LSE by Trader Media East Limited; the US$966 million IPO of OAO Novatek under Rule 144A with a listing on the LSE; the US$250 million IPO and listing on the LSE by OAO Cherkizovo Group; the US$58 million IPO of American Depositary Shares of Virgin Express Holdings plc; and the founding shareholders of SkyEurope Airlines in the US$95 million IPO of SkyEurope Holding AG.
His high-yield experience includes advising Seat Pagine Gialle S.p.A. in its €1.3 billion high-yield offering; Bank of Moscow in its US$250 million high-yield offering; Barclays Capital in various transactions including: the €95 million Regulation S high-yield offering by Kappa Beheer B.V.; the US$570 million high-yield debt offering for Kappa Beheer B.V.; the £150 million Rule 144A/Regulation S high-yield debt offering by The Big Food Group plc; and the £75 million Rule 144A/Regulation S high-yield offering on the LSE by Travelex plc; and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and UBS Limited as underwriters in numerous high-yield offerings by Open Joint Stock Company Vimpel-Communications.
