Waystone to acquire Link Fund Solutions in £140m deal

Dublin-headquartered financial services group Waystone has agreed to acquire the UK and Irish businesses of Link Fund Solutions (LFS) for a reported sum of £140 million.

Simmons & Simmons advised Waystone while English firm Macfarlanes LLP advised LFS.

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals and other contractual conditions, is closely linked to the FCA’s plan to deliver redress to the Woodford Equity Income Fund investors which was announced last week.

Waystone, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a leading provider of institutional governance, risk and compliance services to the asset management industry. With over 20 years’ experience, Waystone now supports asset managers with more than US$2tn in AUM.

LFS is an independent provider of authorised fund manager (AFM) and administrative services with £160bn of assets under administration with over 40 years’ experience of regulatory and administrative services.

The Simmons & Simmons team was led by Ania Rontaler and Raghav Ghai in the UK M&A team, David Brangam in the Ireland M&A team, Mahire Webb in the UK funds team and James McKnight in the Ireland funds team.

Other Dublin-based lawyers working on the deal included Christine Quigley, Jennifer Watters, Geoffrey Curran, Ciarán Cronin, James Cullinane, Grace Lumsden, Jennie Ng, Michelle Kenny, Derek Lawlor, Jeffrey Horahan, Peter Martin, Peter McKeever, Ruth Crawley, Martin Phelan and Fiachra Ó Raghallaigh.

Mr McKnight said: “The deal further showcases our firm’s strength in the asset management sector, particularly in M&A, and in our ability to combine specialist expertise from across our practice areas and internationally.”

Workplace software developer Workivo acquired by Zoom

Irish workplace software developer Workvivo has been acquired by Zoom.

Mason Hayes & Curran LLP advised Workvivo on the transaction, which is expected to close in the first quarter of the 2024 fiscal year.

Founded in 2017, Workvivo provides a modern, feature-rich employee experience platform, combining advanced internal communication and engagement tools, a social intranet, and an employee app, all blended into one central hub, forming the heart of a company’s digital ecosystem.

With this acquisition, Zoom continues its evolution to provide the best end-to-end collaboration platform focused on enabling modern work and powering the digital-first workplace.

Mason Hayes & Curran previously acted for Workvivo on fundraisings led by Tiger Global and Frontline Ventures.

The firm’s team advising on the sale was led by corporate partner Martin Kelleher and included corporate lawyer John Troute, tax lawyer Kevin Mangan and privacy/data security lawyer Robert McDonagh.

Avadel secures funding for new medical product

Irish biopharmaceutical company Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc has secured funding through three transactions to support a new medical product.

Arthur Cox LLP advised the company on a $125 million equity offering, a $96 million exchange of convertible notes and a $75 million royalty financing to support the potential commercialisation of LUMRYZ for the treatment of cataplexy or excessive daytime sleepiness in adults with narcolepsy.

Avadel is a biopharmaceutical company focused on transforming medicines to transform lives. The company’s approach includes applying innovative solutions to the development of medications that address the challenges patients face with current treatment options.

The Arthur Cox team advising on the three transactions was led by corporate and M&A partner Chris McLaughlin and included David Vos, Aya Aboulatta and Tim Gleeson in the corporate and M&A team, Fintan Clancy and Elaine Mooney in tax and Ciara Buckley in finance.

TrueNoord secures $275m term loan

Aircraft lessor TrueNoord has secured a five-year term loan of $275 million to expand its group of aircraft assets.

Flynn O’Driscoll LLP acted as Irish counsel to TrueNoord and financiers MUFG Bank, Ltd., BayernLB, Cathay United Bank, Absa Corporate & Investment Banking, Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A. and Umpqua Bank.

The facility will be used by TrueNoord to expand its existing group of aircraft assets and to finance a well-diversified portfolio of 31 owned regional jet and turboprop aircraft currently on lease to 13 different airline customers based in 11 countries.

Anne-Bart Tieleman, CEO of TrueNoord, said: “With the successful closing of this secured long-term financing TrueNoord has been able to further increase its group of relationship banks supporting the continued growth of the business.

“We have broadened our financing resources and the facility gives us the ability to aim for further market opportunities, like portfolio transactions for new and used aircraft.”

The Flynn O’Driscoll team included managing partner James Duggan, Stephanie Guidi and Daniela Martyna, all in the aviation and asset finance team.