The agreement was announced in August 2021 and, two days ago, was announced its initial closing. Convera is the largest non-bank fintech in global B2B payments and makes cross-border money transfers simple and stress-free, allowing its customers to scale globally with ease. The business has an exceptional global reach with capabilities in 140+ currencies across 200+ countries and territories and 60+ global banking partners.
As announced last August, the transaction is closing in two stages, with the second closing representing the business that is operated through Western Union International Bank in the European Union and the United Kingdom, expected later this year, subject to receipt of regulatory licenses and approvals.
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom counselled Goldfinch Partners and The Baupost Group internationally, while Garrigues has acted as their advisor on Spanish Law matters. On the other hand, Lazard Frères & Co. served as a financial advisor, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP acted as Legal counsel to Western Union.
Skadden M&A team was led by partners David Eisman in Los Angeles and Simon Toms in London. Garrigues’ team was led by partner Luis de la Peña, along with senior associate Francesc Cholvi, and associates Mariemme Nassiri and José María Trabada Sánchez de Toca.
The Freshfields Corporate/M&A cross-border team was led by counsel Zheng (Jonathan) Zhou, associates Vinita Sithapathy, Sally Wu and Craig Langhamer, and partner Ethan Klingsberg, all from the New York office and associate David Chen from Silicon Valley. The Bank Regulatory team was led by partner Brian Rance and associate Francesca Loreto in New York, partner Florian Klimscha and associates Eva Schneider and Christian Oberkersch in Vienna, and partner Emma Rachmaninov and associates Charlotte Witherington and Fionn O’Toole in London. Employee benefits and Labour Law matters were handled by partner Maj Vaseghi in Silicon Valley and associate Jordan Salzman in New York, as well as partner Karin Buzanich-Sommeregger and associates Leonhard Prasser and Agnieszka Branding in Vienna. Tax matters were led by partner Robert Scarborough and associate David Mitchell in New York, with support from associates Katharina Kubik and Lukas Allram in Vienna. Data privacy and I.P. matters were led by partner Mena Kaplan and associate Laurie Morgan in New York, counsel Peter Jaffe in D.C. and Gernot Fritz in Vienna. Partner Meghan Rissmiller and associate Ilana Kattan handled Antitrust matters out of D.C., while Foreign Investment Regulatory matters were handled by partner Aimen Mir and counsel Christine Laciak in D.C. and associate Lukas Pomaroli in Vienna. Compliance advice was provided by counsel Stephanie Brown Cripps in New York and associate Andrew Bulovsky in D.C. Financing advice was provided by partner Kyle Lakin in New York and Corporate support on U.K. matters is being provided by associate Carl Hotton in London. Corporate support on Austrian matters was provided by partner Farid Sigari-Majd and associates Dora Rendessy, Stephan Roedler and Maria Tumpel.
