DAC Beachcroft leads on £248m Viaro Energy take-private acquisition of Rockrose Energy plc

Published 13 agosto 2020

DAC Beachcroft’s Corporate team has advised client Viaro Energy Limited on its acquisition by means of a Court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement of RockRose Energy plc for £248 million.

RockRose is an independent North Sea oil and gas production and infrastructure company focusing on onshore and offshore production opportunities and infrastructure projects. Viaro Energy is headquartered in London and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Viaro Investment Limited, a physical energy trading group with global commodities trading activities and interests in energy sector support services and upstream asset development.

The DAC Beachcroft Viaro Energy team is led by corporate partner Nick Garland. He is assisted by - among others – legal director and equity capital markets specialist Michelle Jones, tax partner John Dunlop, banking partner Chris Wall and legal director Toby Hewitt. The deal is the third public M&A deal DAC Beachcroft has supported in the last 12 months.

Nick Garland said, "We are very pleased to have assisted Viaro in this deal; the highly regulated environment of public takeovers makes it a particularly challenging area. Viaro have a real determination and a great future – private ownership of North Sea assets seems to be the way to go – and we look forward to helping Francesco and his team at Viaro on their journey."

Francesco Mazzagatti, CEO at Viaro Energy, commented, "It was a pleasure working with Nick and his team, who worked under a tight timeframe but were always calm and constructive. They met our timeline and I always received very wise, constructive and supportive advice.”

The Viaro acquisition is the second DAC Beachcroft has conducted since lockdown; the team also advised client Castleton Technology PLC, a software and technology provider in the social housing sector, on its acquisition, by means of a Court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement, by US-based MRI Software Limited for £83 million, which completed in June 2020.

DAC Beachcroft’s UK Corporate team comprises over 40 lawyers and works closely with specialist colleagues in other teams who provide support on taxation, finance, compliance and regulatory, employment, pensions, litigation, real estate, competition, procurement and IT, and intellectual property aspects of transactions. It is part of the firm’s wider Business Advisory Group, which numbers over 200 colleagues.