Sullivan & Cromwell, Freshfields advise on €8.6bn Sitel and Majorel merger

Sullivan & Cromwell, Freshfields advise on €8.6bn Sitel and Majorel merger

Among the lawyers who provided legal advice on the deal were Arendt & Medernach, Stibbe and Elvinger Hoss Prussen

As part of its strategy for creating a combined €8.6bn global giant, Sullivan & Cromwell and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised on a potential merger between Majorel Group Luxembourg and Sitel Group, Bsandfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised the merger.

In addition to Arendt & Medernach and Stibbe, Sullivan & Cromwell advised Majorel, while Freshfields and Elvinger Hoss Prussen advised Sitel. They both provide products and services aimed at improving the customer experience. As part of the deal, Sitel will absorb the Majorel brand, with a new name to be announced shortly thereafter. The merged companies will trade on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange after the transaction closes. With more than 240,000 employees across 55 countries, the combined company will have a worldwide presence.

"We have found the perfect partner with Majorel to accelerate the implementation of our strategy," said Laurent Uberti, president, CEO and co-founder of Sitel Group. We identified in early stages we share Majorel's DNA and are looking forward to writing a new chapter in our growth while delivering best-in-class customer experience solutions globally."

Majorel CEO Thomas Mackenbrock will become chief investment officer and CEO of the combined company as part of the merger. Uberti will remain as CEO of the combined company, but Mackenbrock will be as CEO of EMEA.

In addition to Co-head of Sullivan & Cromwell's Frankfurt team, Karoline Koenig, Daniel Roggenkemper, and Jannis Rink also contributed to the deal by its Frankfurt offices, as well as partners Krystian Czerniecki, Lars Rueve, European counsel Lars Rueve, and associates Karoline Koenig and Daniel Roggenkemper. Together with Paris-based tax partner Gauthier Blanluet and associate Alexis Madec, Paris-based partner Olivier de Vilmorin provided advice on French corporate matters. Among the experts advising on European antitrust issues were co-head Michael Rosenthal of the Brussels office, associate Karen Verlinden, and law clerk Kolja Ortmann.

A former listing with Majorel was handled by Sullivan & Cromwell in September last year.

On the deal, Freshfields has recruited corporate partners Hervé Pisani and Arnaud Mouton in Paris. In Amsterdam, Dirk-Jan Smit and Hanneke Rothbarth proved helpful, plus finance partner Kyle Lakin and David Almroth in New York, and Paris City partners Vincent Daniel Mayeur and Thomas Métayer (tax), Gwen Senlanne, Elodie Favre-Thellmann (employment) and Alan Ryan (regulatory and antitrust).

Sitel and Majorel were advised by JP Morgan and Lazard, respectively.