Kirkland Advises Fortress Management in Acquisition of Fortress Investment Group from SoftBank
Kirkland & Ellis represented senior management of Fortress Investment Group on its definitive agreements along with Mubadala Capital to acquire 90.01% of the equity of Fortress that is currently held by SoftBank Group Corp. After transaction close, Fortress management is expected to own a 30% equity interest in the company and will hold a class of equity entitling Fortress management to appoint a majority of seats on the board. Mubadala Capital (which currently holds a 9.99% stake in Fortress through its Private Equity Funds II and III), will own 70% of Fortress equity. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and the deal is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Daniel Lavon-Krein, Christopher Gandia and Carlo Zenkner and tax partner Mark Schwed; along with corporate partners Florence Zhang and Christopher Urruela Stauss and associate Eric Li; tax associate Maria Smith; executive compensation partners Scott Price and Sally Ye; debt finance partners Jocelyn Hirsch and Thomas Dobleman; and capital markets partner Josh Korff.
