An army of City bankers, lawyers and public relations advisers are expected to be paid more than £200m for the sale of the UK aerospace firm Meggitt to its US rival Parker Hannifin.
Documents published on Monday by the Coventry-based company give a detailed breakdown of who benefits from providing professional advice on both sides of the deal, if it goes ahead as planned.
Unsurprisingly, as the suitor, Parker’s share of the fees is higher. The US firm is slated to spend about £156m, with the largest slice – almost £60m – accounted for by fees and interest on a $2bn (£1.4bn) loan from Citibank to finance the deal. Citi’s investment bankers are also acting as financial advisers to Parker, an arrangement worth a further £24m.
Meggitt’s banking advisers, NM Rothschild, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch, will carve up £43m between them for advising the company’s board on the takeover offer.
Lawyers on both sides – the magic circle firms Freshfields for Parker and Slaughter & May for Meggitt – stand to earn £39m between them for their advice.
There will also be £8m for “professional services”, which includes fees for management consultants, and about £3.8m for public relations firms working on both sides.
Such is the scale of the potential takeover that Parker has earmarked about £32m just for “other costs and expenses”.
Meggitt’s top brass won’t miss out either. Its chief executive, Antony Wood, and finance director Louisa Burdett are entitled to “retention” payments and “transition awards” in cash and stock, as well as payment for shares they sell to Parker. In total, the duo could scoop a combined £9m.
The chairman, Sir Nigel Rudd, who has previously been involved in the sale of firms such as Boots and Signature Aviation to overseas buyers, will make £2m if he sells his shares in the company.
