The significant transaction that completed on March 20th, includes Famar’s facilities in Greece, Spain and Italy as well as the distribution business in Greece, which in total represents a turnover of €210M and 1900 employees. The deal involved the acquisition of multiple pharmaceutical manufacturing sites and distribution and logistics facility.

ECM and York have already injected considerable new capital into the companies to strengthen relationships with their commercial partners, and refocus on capital investment.

The Reed Smith team that advised on the matter was led by partners Panos Katsambas, Guilain Hippolyte and Iqbal Hussain.

This deal follows months of negotiations that started back in July, 2019, work across multiple jurisdictions, each with its legal and regulatory challenges exacerbated by the current challenging environment, and parallel local closings in four markets with the backdrop of COVID-19 ‘lockdown’.

Panos Katsambas, partner at Reed Smith, said: “This deal highlights the collective strengths of Reed Smith as the client relied on us for advice across a range of jurisdictions, our ability to manage several firms of external counsel and intense and lengthy negotiations.” 

Iqbal Hussain, partner at Reed Smith, added: “We faced several obstacles along the way but working closely with the client were able to overcome them. It’s a very pleasing result of collaboration across the firm.” 

York, an investment management firm with $18bn of capital which specialises in special situations investments, and ECM, an investment company whose funds are targeted at special opportunities in credit markets, have partnered on several transactions together over the last four years, and have a track record as a turnaround specialist in the region.

Reed Smith’s Global Corporate Group covers all aspects of corporate and commercial law and spans the firm’s 30 offices.