Sebastian E S FitzGerald

Mr. FitzGerald has acted for various leading private equity sponsors and financial investors and institutions in the U.S. and European financing markets, including Advent, Ardian, BC Partners, Blackstone, BlackRock, Cinven, CVC, Eurazeo, FTV Capital, Goldman Sachs, Insight Partners, KKR, Montagu, PAI Partners, Silver Lake, Sixth Street and Triple Private Equity, among others.

He is widely recognised as a leading adviser in the European private equity and leveraged finance markets and for his commercial and collaborative approach. He has been ranked and recognised in leading legal directories, including by Chambers, by IFLR1000 as “Highly Regarded,” and by The Legal 500 as a Leading Partner in Acquisition Finance. Clients have praised him as “fantastic,” “very efficient and flexible,” “extremely professional, bright and commercial” and “a commanding banking partner in charge of the execution process of very complex transactions.”

Mr. FitzGerald’s representations since joining Skadden in 2024 include advising:

• CVC Capital Partners on numerous transactions, including the:
  • €2.7 billion financing of Cooper Consumer Health including the financing to acquire Viatris Inc.’s over-the-counter business
  • €1.6 billion financing for Syntegon, a leading packaging technology business unit
  • €1.2 billion financing for Sebia, a global leader in specialty diagnostics
  • financing for the acquisition of The Quality Group, a manufacturer of sports performance nutrition products
  • financing for the acquisition of Sunday Natural, a leading brand for premium vitamins, minerals and supplements
• BlackRock on various transactions, including its acquisitions of:
  • Preqin at an enterprise value of £2.55 billion
  • Viridium Group as part of a consortium of investors at an enterprise value of €3.5 billion
• L’Occitane Group and the majority shareholder of L’Occitane International, in a take-private transaction for L’Occitane International that valued the company at €6 billion
• FTV Capital on various transactions, including its acquisitions of:
  • N2F, a leading provider of spend management software
  • FundApps, a leading compliance monitoring platform
• Triple Private Equity on various transactions, including its acquisitions of:
  • Smartsearch, a leading online provider of anti-money laundering services
  • Legal Benchmarking, a research, recognition and insights provider for global law firms
• Insight Partners on various financings, including for its portfolio company OptoScale AS’ acquisition of Optimeering Aqua and a refinancing of the SignUp Software Group
• Starr Insurance on the acquisition of the IQUW Group, a leading Lloyd’s specialty insurer, reinsurer and managing agent, from Aquiline Capital Partners, Abry Partners LLC and management shareholders
• Walkers, a leading international law firm, on the carve-out and strategic investment, alongside Vitruvian Partners, into its Walkers Professional Services (WPS) business
• the shareholders of BPL (Holdings), a leading global broker, regarding the sale of a stake to Preservation Capital Partners
• Radian Group Inc. on its primarily all-cash $1.7 billion acquisition of Inigo Limited, a Lloyd’s specialty insurer, from a consortium of institutional investors (including J.C. Flowers & Co, Oak Hill Advisors, CDPQ, QIA, Stone Point Capital, Capital City Partners and Dowling Capital Partners), Enstar Group and management shareholders
• Corient on the acquisitions of Stonehage Fleming and Stanhope Capital Group to create a $430 billion independent ultra-high-net-worth wealth manager
• Montagu on various transactions, including the separation of its portfolio company DEAS into two business units and subsequent disposal of (i) the real estate services business of DEAS to PHM Denmark, a portfolio company of Norvestor, and (ii) the asset management services business of DEAS to Fokus Nordic AB, a portfolio company of BlackFin Capital Partners
• Inflexion Private Equity and The Acorn Group Limited on financing matters, including Acorn’s acquisitions of My Policy Limited and Minerva.Science Limited
• Optio Group Limited, a portfolio company of Preservation Capital Partners Limited, on financing matters, including its acquisition of Circles Group. S.A.
• Engelhart Commodities Trading Partners, a global commodities trading business, on its acquisition of Trailstone, a global energy and technology company, from Riverstone
• I Squared Capital on its acquisition of Ramudden Global AB from private equity fund Triton Partners

Mr. FitzGerald’s representations prior to joining Skadden include advising:

• CVC Capital Partners on numerous transactions, including the:
  • acquisition, alongside STARK Group, of Saint-Gobain Building Distribution (including Jewson, one of the U.K.’s largest builders’ merchants)
  • €1.7 billion financing, alongside KKR, in relation to the Van Gansewinkel Group
  • $1 billion New York law financing for its acquisition of Linxens from Astorg Partners
  • €2.5 billion facility for its acquisition of a stake in Abertis Infraestructuras
• Insight Partners on various transactions, including financings in relation to its investments in Advanced Manufacturing Control Systems, Bynder, Exclaimer, Fenergo and PSPDFKit
• PAI Partners on various transactions, including the:
  • acquisition of StellaGroup, a producer of doors, gates, shutters and enclosures for industrial and residential buildings in France, from ICG
  • €520 million refinancing of Labeyrie Fine Foods
• Stanley Capital Partners on various transactions, including its acquisitions of global specialty pharmaceutical company Noden Pharma DAC, French pharmaceutical group Laboratoire XO and Clario’s drug safety and pharmacovigilance services solutions business (now Qinecsa)
• Cinven on various matters, including:
  • its €535 million financing for the acquisition of Host Europe Group from Montagu
  • its acquisition of Spire Healthcare hospital group; its €1.2 billion opco/propco refinancing; the subsequent sale of a portfolio of hospitals to Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund, Och-Ziff Capital Management and Moor Park Capital; the partial refinancing of Spire’s loan facilities; and Spire’s subsequent IPO its acquisition of Gas Natural Fenosa Telecomunicaciones
  • approximately €3.2 billion in loan facilities, alongside BC Partners, in relation to the IPO of Amadeus
  • financing matters in relation to its investment in Phadia its take-private of Spice plc (now EnServe Group)
• Eurazeo on the financing for its acquisition of Iberchem
• Premier Oil’s convertible bondholders on its $2.8 billion restructuring
• Ardian on the €450 million financing for its acquisition of SLV from Cinven
• Advent on various matters, including €740 million in loan facilities supporting the take-private of Mediq and subsequent recapitalization facilities
• TPG Special Situations Partners (now Sixth Street Partners) and Blackstone Tactical Opportunities Partners on the financing for their highly complex acquisition of Kensington, a specialty U.K. residential mortgage lender, from Investec plc that involved five separate financings, and on various investment opportunities
• Blackstone Real Estate Partners on its acquisition of the €1.8 billion Project Tower loan portfolio from National Asset Management Agency of Ireland