Vincent Ponsonnaille

Kirkland & Ellis is advising Hg, as it welcomes two new minority investors in Septeo Group: Téthys Invest, the investment holding company of the Bettencourt-Meyers Family, and GIC, a leading global investor. These investors will join Hugues Galambrun, the founding CEO of Septeo, as well as the management team; Hg will also remain as Septeo's majority investor. The transaction values the group at over €3 billion. The transaction is expected to close following customary regulatory approvals. Read Hg’s Press Release The Kirkland team included corporate lawyers Vincent Ponsonnaille, Guillaume Nivault and Marion Callot and antitrust & competition lawyer Thomas Wilson.

Nov 22

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis counseled Energize Capital, a leading investor in climate solutions, on its lead Series B funding in Elum Energy, a leading provider of advanced energy management solutions for renewable energy systems. This investment will support the company's ambitious growth plans to address the booming global renewable market, including a U.S. launch, as well as product evolution within the energy storage and electric vehicle integration categories. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Ari Levi and Vincent Ponsonnaille and associate Lucy Bower; and investment funds partner Jon Lipnick.

Sep 23

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis is advising investment firm Wendel on a definitive partnership agreement relating to a strategic investment, which includes the acquisition of 75% of Monroe Capital LLC, a sponsoring program of up to $800 million to accelerate Monroe Capital’s growth and a GP commitment for up to $200 million. Wendel will pay $1.13 billion at the closing. Monroe management will continue to own 25% of the company post-closing. The transaction will dramatically expand Wendel’s asset management platform and rebalance its business model towards more recurring cash flows and growth and follows Wendel’s recent acquisition of IK Partners, a European leader in middle market private equity, as it seeks to build a scaled third-party asset management platform. The transaction is subject to satisfaction of closing conditions and receipt of regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team included asset management M&A lawyers Christopher Gandia, Daniel Lavon-Krein, James Mayne and Christopher Simpson; corporate lawyers Valentine Bleicher, Vincent Ponsonnaille and Louis Gosset; and tax lawyers Nadine Gelli and Lee Morlock.

Oct 22

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis, Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Paul Hastings are advising on a proposed €1.8 billion ($1.5 billion) deal that would allow London and New York-based private equity firm CapVest to tap into growing demand for investment in sustainable energy infrastructure. CapVest has entered exclusive talks to acquire HLD’s majority stake in TSG, a European technical services provider for critical energy infrastructure. Paris-headquartered TSG started out decades ago as a gas station and fueling equipment company. Since it was acquired by European investment firm HLD in 2020, the company has worked to transform itself into a provider of technical services for critical energy infrastructure and the sustainable energy transition. HLD and TSG management will retain minority stakes in the company after the sale, for about €1.8 billion, according to French press reports and Bloomberg. Kirkland's team advising CapVest includes corporate partners Vincent Ponsonnaille (London and Paris), Guillaume Nivault (Paris), and Carlos Gil Rivas and Chris Connolly (London), and debt finance partners Evgeny Zborovsky and Karen Ford in London. In October, Kirkland was on the other side of the table advising Bain Capital and Cinven in a €10 billion deal to sell their majority stake in German healthcare and pharmaceutical giant Stada to CapVest, advised by Willkie, Farr & Gallagher. Weil's Paris-based team advising the seller, HLD, includes partners Jean Beauchataud and Pierre-Alexandre Kahn on the transaction’s corporate law aspects, Marc Lordonnois on public law, and Ning-Ly Seng on competition law. Kahn has advised HLD on several other transactions, including the company's sale of online shoe retailer Sarenza and its acquisition of IPS and AMS (now Elivie), as well as the acquisition of Photonis in 2021 for €370 million, according to Weil. French firm Arsene Taxand is advising HLD on tax, while Paul Hastings' team is advising HLD and the TSG group on financing aspects of the transaction, led by partners Olivier Vermeulen and Tereza Courmont Vlkova. It's also not the first time Paul Hastings has advised HLD. In November, Vermeulen and Tereza Courmont Vlkova also advised HLD on the repricing and upsizing of their existing Term Loan B facility, increasing it from €600 million to €750 million, according to Paul Hastings. The CapVest transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

Feb 12

2 min

Kirkland & Ellis is advising CapVest Partners on entering into exclusive negotiations regarding its proposed acquisition of a stake in TSG, a European leader in technical services for critical energy infrastructure, from HLD. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team includes corporate lawyers Vincent Ponsonnaille, Carlos Gil Rivas, Guillaume Nivault, Chris Connolly, Nikhil Mohindra, Ben Seymour, Emma Luo and Gabin Beaudor; debt finance lawyers Evgeny Zborovsky, Karen Ford, Michael McNamee, Anastasis Voskos and Jin Ahn; and tax lawyers Nadine Gelli, Alan Walker and Maxime Billaut.

Feb 10

1 min