Farah O'Brien

Partner

London
farah.obrien@lw.com
+44.20.7710.1188

PRACTICES

  • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Private Equity

INDUSTRIES

  • Entertainment, Sports & Media
  • Financial Institutions
  • Healthcare & Life Sciences
  • Technology

BAR QUALIFICATIONS

  • England and Wales (Solicitor)

EDUCATION

  • MA, Oxford University, 2005
  • LPC, BPP Law School, 2002
    with distinction
  • BA (Hons) in Jurisprudence, Oxford University, 2000

PROFILE

Farah O’Brien has over 15 years’ experience in cross-border M&A, private equity, and corporate restructurings, primarily for sponsors and their portfolio companies. She is Vice Chair of the firm's Associates Committee and the former Co-Chair of the London Corporate Department.

She has co-authored a chapter in the book Carve-out M&A Transactions: A Practical Guide.

EXPERIENCE

Farah's representative transactions include advising:

  • MSD UK Holdings Limited, lender to West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, in connection with the indirect sale of 87.8% of West Bromwich Albion Football Club to Bilkul Football WBA, LLC
  • Moonbug Entertainment on its acquisition by Candle Media, a Blackstone-backed portfolio company
  • Silver Lake Partners on its substantial minority investment into IVC Evidensia group, the leading European veterinary care provider
  • Silver Lake on the US$650 million equity funding round by Klarna, the leading global payments and shopping service
  • NVIDIA on its proposed US$40 billion acquisition of Arm Limited, the Cambridge-headquartered semiconductor and software design company, from SoftBank
  • One Equity Partners in its major strategic investment in Infobip, a global cloud communications platform for the world’s largest enterprises
  • EQT Partners on its acquisition of Facile.it, an Italian car insurance brokerage and price comparison website
  • Acino International, a Nordic Capital portfolio company on its acquisition of various pharmaceutical products and related assets from Takeda
  • Fortress Investment Group on its acquisition of Vannin Capital, a UK-based litigation funding business
  • Integro, an Odyssey Investments portfolio company on its acquisition of Risk Transfer Group
  • Bridgepoint on its acquisition of Kyriba Corp., the global leader in cloud treasury and finance solutions
  • Onex Corporation on the dual track process for SIG Combibloc Group
  • Leonard Green & Partners on the acquisition of Pure Gym, a UK-based owner and operator of gyms
  • Norsk Hydro ASA, one of the largest aluminium companies in the world, on its acquisition of an aluminium smelter in Iceland and two metal supplying companies in Holland and Sweden from Rio Tinto
  • ViaSat Inc. in connection with its joint venture with Eutelsat Communications to combine Eutelsat’s current European broadband business with ViaSat’s industry-leading broadband technologies and consumer Internet Service Provider (ISP) business expertise
  • Onex Corporation in connection with its €3.75 billion acquisition of SIG Combibloc Group, a Switzerland-based provider of aseptic carton sleeves and closures for beverages and liquid food
  • Houlihan Lokey on its acquisition of the investment banking operations of Leonardo & Co. NV in Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain and has become a minority partner in a joint venture with the management team of Leonardo, in respect of Leonardo’s investment banking operations in Italy.
  • Faerch Plast, an EQT portfolio company, in connection with its acquisition of Anson Packaging, a manufacturer of thermoforming packaging products for the food industry
  • IMO Car Wash Group, a UK-based provider of car washing services, on its sale to TDR Capital
  • Koch Equity Development on its acquisition with Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking of the Flint Group, a leading global supplier of inks and other print consumables, from CVC
  • Kohlberg Kravis Roberts on its €1.12 billion acquisition of Capital Safety, the UK-based safety harness maker, from Arle Capital Partners LimitedSaudi Binladin Group in its joint venture with General Dynamics, a multi-national security and technology solution provider
  • Apollo Global Management LLC, on its €1.1 billion acquisition of Taminco, a Belgian chemicals producer, from CVC Capital Partners Limited
  • Qatar Holding LLC (a wholly owned subsidiary of Qatar Investment Authority) on its acquisition of the Harrods Group
  • Grant Thornton, as administrator, on the sale of Esporta
  • The Carlyle Group on its acquisition of Gardner Group Ltd, the UK-headquartered supplier of metallic aerostructure details, equipment and engine components, from Dunedin and Rolls Royce
  • Medici Group on its acquisition of ITFC Limited, a leading provider of video and media access services, from ITV
  • Medici Group on its acquisition of Ideale Audience, an audiovisual production company based in France
  • Candover on its US$565 million acquisition of Capital Safety, from Electra