Chris Connolly

Since joining Kirkland, Chris has worked on the following matters, advising:

• Apollo and Oaktree-backed ABC Technologies on the take-private of TI Fluid Systems
• Apollo-backed The Restaurant Group in its acquisition of its outstanding stake in the Wagamama from Conversion Venture Capital
• FundRock on the acquisition of Nikko Asset Management Luxembourg
• Consortium of CVC Private Equity Funds, Nordic Capital and ADIA on the £5.4 billion recommended cash acquisition of Hargreaves Lansdown
• Apollo on its recommended all-cash acquisition of The Restaurant Group
• Gen II Fund Services on the acquisition of Crestbridge
• Apex on its:
  
  • acquisition of GAM’s Management Company activities
  • acquisition of various operating businesses of MJ Hudson Group plc
  • c. £1.51 billion recommended all cash acquisition of Sanne Group plc
  • acquisition of the fund services and third-party management company business operations of Maitland International Holdings plc
  • acquisition of Pacific Fund Systems
  • acquisition of Bank of America Custodial Services (Ireland) Limited
  • acquisition of Efficient Group (Pty) Ltd

• Thoma Bravo and its portfolio company Veriforce on the acquisition of CHAS
• Eagle Street on its:
  • joint venture with Harrison Street to develop a Build to Rent project in Dublin
  • joint venture with Nuveen Real Estate and HESTA to acquire a Build to Rent asset in Dublin 
• Antin Infrastructure Partners on its:
  • acquisition of Consilium Safety Group
  • acquisition of Wildstone
  • participation in CityFibre’s £1.125 billion capital raise
  • reinvestment in Eurofiber, including the sale of a minority stake to PGGM
• Cushman & Wakefield on the launch of an underwritten public offering of 12,500,000 ordinary shares 
• Advent International on its:
  • portfolio company Cobham on Cobham’s c. £2.57 billion recommended all cash acquisition of Ultra Electronics Holdings plc
  • portfolio company V.Group on V.Group's successful debt and equity restructuring 
• GIC on its $3.9 billion additional joint ventures with Equinix to expand the xScale™ data centre programme
• TPG Real Estate Partners on the formation of its Physicus platform, a commercial life science real estate joint venture with Base Investments
• Sun European Partners on the sale of Dreams to Tempur Sealy International 
• HGGC on the sale of a majority stake in Davies 
• Naviga, a portfolio company of Vista Equity Partners, on the £12m acquisition of Miles 33
• I Squared and TDR Capital on the £2.322 billion recommended cash acquisition of Aggreko
• Pinnacle Renewable Energy, the Toronto-listed entity, on its $652 million acquisition by Drax Group plc 
• Grubhub on its $7.3 billion sale to Just Eat Takeaway.com

Prior to joining Kirkland, Chris worked on the following matters, advising:

• Cineworld Group plc on its US$2.1 billion class 1 acquisition of Cineplex Inc.
• Ensco plc on its US$12 billion combination with Rowan Companies plc
• Cineworld Group plc on its US$3.6 billion reverse takeover of Regal Entertainment Group
• Premier Oil plc on the class 1 disposal of its 33.8% stake in Wytch Farm
• ARM Holdings plc on its £24.3 billion acquisition by SoftBank Group Corp.
• Tata Steel UK Limited on the sale of its 42- and 84-inch pipe mills in Hartlepool to Liberty House Group
• Goals Soccer Centres plc on its strategic North American joint venture with City Football Group
• Tata Steel UK Limited on the £100 million disposal of its speciality steels business to Liberty House Group
• Accsys Technologies PLC on its firm placing and open offer
• Ensco plc on its US$606 million placing of ordinary shares

Slaughter and May

• Associate (2016–2020)
• Trainee Solicitor (2014–2016)