Ashurst advises Vontobel on acquisition of minority stake in Ancala Partners
15 February 2024
Global law firm Ashurst has advised Vontobel on its acquisition of a significant minority stake in Ancala Partners LLP, marking Vontobel's entry into institutional private markets.
Vontobel is a global investment firm with Swiss roots. It specialises in wealth management, active asset management and investment solutions. As of 30 September 2023, Vontobel held CHF 268.1bn (€313.1bn) of total client assets. Ancala has total AUM of more than €4bn and manages 18 assets operating in essential infrastructure sectors including renewable energy and energy transition, transport, utilities and the circular economy.
The transaction will enable Vontobel's clients to benefit from the potential from diversification supported by low correlation to GDP and other major asset classes, as well as attractive risk-adjusted returns.
The transaction is expected to close by the third quarter of 2024, subject to regulatory approval.
The Ashurst team was led by corporate partner Jacob Gold with Paul Miller leading on tax matters.
The corporate transactions team also comprised partners Markjan van Schaardenburgh and Bruce Hanton, senior associates Nick Lever and James Powell, associates Jasmin O'Reilly and Shashtika Sundar, trainee Cindy Jiang and solicitor-apprentice Coinneach Pellow, whilst the tax team also comprised partners Alexandra Clouté and Sharon Kim and associates Umut Bektas, Oliver Passmore and Andrew DiComo.
Financial regulatory advice was led by partner Bradley Rice with senior associate Adam Clenton, associate Hannah Sheikh and trainee Khadija Patel assisting. Specialists funds advice was handled by partner Nicola Hopkins with counsel Radhika Bhatt and senior associate David Gati assisting.
Partner Duncan Liddell, senior associates Natasha Gromof and associates Louisa Denison, Astrid Dorigny-Sicard, Jessica Bracker advised on competition and regulatory matters, whilst partners Gabriele Accardo and Rafael Baena, senior associates Giulia Carnazza and Soledad Adell and associates Dalila Machello and Patricia Valenzuela also advised on Spanish and Italian regulatory matters.
Employment, pensions and incentives advice was provided by partner Ruth Buchanan and counsel John Gordon, senior associate Hannah Martin, associate Ella Stokes and trainee Elliot Tolaini. Senior associates Aaron Cole and Matthew Hewitson advised on IP and data protection matters.
