(June 11, 2012, Weil News)
Michael Aiello, chair of Weil’s global Corporate Department, was named
The Am Law Daily’s “Dealmaker of the Week” for the week ending June 8, 2012 in connection with his lead role advising Thomas H. Lee Partners (THL) in its $2.7 billion acquisition of a majority stake in Party City Holdings Inc. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2012 subject to customary closing conditions.
THL, one of the oldest private equity firms in the US, will purchase a majority stake in the party goods retailer from private equity investors Advent International Corp., Berkshire Partners LLC and Weston Presidio. Party City leads the $10 billion retail party goods industry, operating roughly 825 permanent locations worldwide (along with another 400 temporary stores during the Halloween season), and sells its products in more than 40,000 locations around the world.
Both the economic environment and the nature of an auction process helped drive the pace of this transaction. “I think the competitive bidding situation, in my view, makes things move more quickly,” Aiello said. “[T]here always seems to be a lot of pressure to move fast."
This transaction represents the latest in a chain of investments by THL, on which Weil has advised. In fact, Weil also represented THL on its purchase of the Dallas-based churrascaria chain
Fogo de Chão, which was announced just a week prior to the Party City transaction – on May 29, 2012. In 2011, Weil advised THL on its $2 billion acquisition of food marketing company
Acosta and its $180 million investment in
First BanCorp.
Aiello’s deal team included New York associates Michael Szlamkowicz, Matthew Speiser, Joe Doyle, and Emma Robinson; Tax partner Martin Pollack; Benefits partner Andrew Gaines; and Finance partners Kelly Dybala and Heather Emmel.
The full article, written by Tom Huddleston Jr., is available
here.