Latham & Watkins Advises TechnipFMC in Planned Spin-Off Transaction
TechnipFMC plc (NYSE: FTI) (Paris: FTI) has announced the resumption of activities toward its planned separation into two industry-leading, independent, publicly traded companies: TechnipFMC, a fully integrated technology and services provider; and Technip Energies, a leading engineering and technology player. The transaction is expected to be structured as a spin-off of 50.1 percent of the outstanding shares in TechnipFMC’s Technip Energies segment to existing TechnipFMC shareholders on a pro rata basis. In connection with the spin-off, Bpifrance, which has been a substantial shareholder of TechnipFMC since 2009, intends to invest US$200 million in Technip Energies by acquiring shares from TechnipFMC’s retained stake in Technip Energies. Technip Energies is expected to be listed on Euronext Paris with American depositary receipts trading over-the-counter in the United States. The separation is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2021.
The TechnipFMC legal team managing the transaction was led by Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, Victoria Lazar, Director of Legal Operations – Americas, Stevan Verkin, Vice President Legal, Stephen Siegel, Legal Director – Corporate and Securities, Lisa Wang, and Legal Director – M&A and Corporate Finance, Henri-Frédéric Hibon. The TechnipFMC legal team also comprised Senior Legal Counsel Alexis Desreumaux, Aurelia Gorman and Françoise Pickering.
Latham & Watkins LLP represents TechnipFMC in the transaction with a cross-border corporate deal team led by Chicago partner Christopher Drewry, Houston partner Ryan Maierson and associate Thomas Verity, Paris partner Alexander Crosthwaite, and London partners Edward Barnett and Anna Ngo, with Washington, D.C. litigation & trial partner Douglas Greenburg, and with assistance from Chicago corporate partner Mark Gerstein. The corporate associate team includes Houston associates Bryan Ryan, Andrew West, Rebecca Kendall, Jessica Sherman, and Carlyle Reid; Paris associates Philippe Tesson, François Blanchet and Xiaocai Fu; and London associate Harry Redford.
The financing team for the transaction consisted of Washington, D.C. partner Jennifer Van Driesen, New York partner Erika Weinberg, and Paris partner Roberto Luis Reyes Gaskin, with Los Angeles associate Brittany Ruiz, Washington, D.C. associate Claire Bourque, and New York associates Roger Yarett, Zo Khalid and Jackson Fountain.
Advice was also provided on tax matters by Los Angeles partner Laurence Stein, Washington, D.C. partner Nicholas DeNovio, and associate Eli McCrain, Paris partner Xavier Renard, and London partner Sean Finn; on employee benefits matters by Chicago partner Robin Struve and associate Leah Segall, Paris partner Matthias Rubner, and London partner Sarah Gadd; on intellectual property matters by New York partner Jeffrey Tochner and London associate Kirsty Watkins; on public company matters by Washington, D.C. partner Julia Thompson and associates Darren Jackson and Jonathan Drory; and antitrust matters by Washington, D.C. partner Jason Cruise and Brussels counsel Tomas Nilsson.