Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman are advising on US customer experience-focused tech business Concentrix’s proposed $4.8bn acquisition of European peer Webhelp.

Kirkland is advising Webhelp’s majority shareholder Groupe Bruxelles Lambert on the deal, while Latham is providing counsel to Paris-based Webhelp and Pillsbury is advising Concentrix. The US company has agreed to acquire all of Webhelp’s shares, with current Webhelp shareholders receiving 14.9 million Concentrix shares in return, plus €500m of cash proceeds and €700m in debt repayable in two years. 

Once the transaction closes, Concentrix shareholders will own roughly 78% of the combined company, with Webhelp shareholders owning the remainder. Together, the two companies are expected to generate almost $10bn in revenue this year. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2023.

Chris Caldwell, president and CEO of Concentrix, will head up the new entity. He said: “As we embark on this new journey together, we will have a toolkit of high-value services and digital capabilities, and a complementary portfolio of approximately 2,000 clients with a diversified and robust revenue stream. With our combined strengths, we will be uniquely positioned to redefine the industry and design, build and run the future of CX (customer experience).”

Kirkland’s team included New York-based corporate partners Chelsea Darnell and Sarkis Jebejian, capital markets partners Sophia Hudson and Julia Danforth in New York and Miami respectively and debt finance partner Rachel Lichman in Houston. New York-based antitrust partner Ian John worked alongside Brussels-based partner Thomas Wilson to provide competition advice, while partners Deal Shulman and Joseph Tootle in New York advised on tax matters.

Latham’s corporate deal team was led by partners Alexander Crosthwaite in Paris and Christopher Drewry in Chicago. Capital markets and SEC advice was provided by Chicago partners Roderick Brand and Alexa Berlin and Washington DC partner Jason Licht. Competition matters were handled by partners Max Hauser in Frankfurt, Mathilde Saltiel in Paris and Jason Cruise in Washington, while Washington partner Jennifer Van Driesen and Chicago partner Cindy Caillavet advised on debt financing matters. Other partners on the deal included Matthias Rubner in Paris and Benjamin Rosemergy in Chicago (advising on benefits and compensation), Damara Chambers in Washington (regulation) and Myria Saarinen in Paris (data privacy).

Pillsbury’s team was led by M&A co-head Allison Leopold Tilley, with support from corporate partners Drew Simon-Rooke and Christina Pearson, finance partners Philip Tendler and Joseph Fastiggi, antitrust partner Michael Sibarium, executive compensation and benefits partner Mark Jones and international trade partner Matthew Rabinowitz.