A&OShearman acted for a group of lead arrangers and underwriters to provide the committed debt financing support for CVC's acquisition of Smiths Detection, a global leader in threat-detection and security-screening technologies for airports and critical infrastructure.
Headquartered in the UK, Smiths Detection employs 3,400 people, including over 1,100 field service engineers and over 500 R&D professionals and operates from facilities across Europe, the U.S. and Asia. The business has a global #1 position in aviation security—i.e. screening technology for carry-on bags, hold luggage, and air cargo at airports—where it serves 47 of the world's top 50 airports, with both industry-leading hardware and sector-leading digital capabilities, including automated detection algorithms.
Supporting the lead arrangers and underwriters on CVC's acquisition of Smiths Detection reflects our continued drive to deepen our coverage of private capital. This was a complex financing in a highly specialized sector, underscoring the breadth of our offering as a firm and our ability to facilitate versatile structures for our clients.
The A&OShearman team was led by debt finance partnerDarren Hanwelland counselAlex Charles, alongside partnerJohn Kicken; senior associatesSampada Bannurmath, Craig Pechey, andAdam Walsh; associates Sama Aunallah andParidhi Srivastavaand trainee Daria Grigorieva.