Clutch of law firms guide DCC Energy’s $7.7bn takeover by KKR, ECP

Gibson Dunn, Latham & Watkins, Kirkland & Ellis and Cleary guide KKR’s largest public-to-private transaction in Europe in more than a decade alongside Irish firms Matheson, Arthur Cox and William Fry

A clutch of US and Irish firms have scored roles in Irish energy distributor DCC Energy’s $7.7bn (£5.8bn) sale to US private equity firms KKR and Energy Capital Partners (ECP), marking yet another foreign takeover of a UK-listed company this year.

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher is acting as English legal adviser to KKR and Dragon Bidco, a newly-incorporated company owned by ECP and KKR. Latham & Watkins is acting as English legal adviser to ECP and Bidco, while Matheson is acting as Irish legal adviser to ECP and Bidco and Arthur Cox is acting as Irish legal adviser to KKR. Kirkland & Ellis is acting as legal adviser to Bidco in respect of the debt financing.

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and William Fry are, respectively, acting as English and Irish legal advisers to DCC Energy.

DCC Energy has 10 million customers across the commercial and industrial, public and domestic sectors, providing mainly off-grid energy solutions, led by liquid gas, and operating service stations and fleet services.

The deal comes as the group focuses on its core energy business by divesting its healthcare and technology units and doubling down on acquisitions in Europe’s liquid gas markets, Reuters reported.

Commenting on the deal, DCC chief executive Donal Murphy told Reuters the group had been simplified and “spent a huge amount of time on the investor relations circuit and that really hasn’t translated into the value that private capital is willing to put on our business”.

The offer, the third by the consortium, represents a 15% uplift from the original bid and a premium of more than 26% to the group’s closing price ‌on 28 April, the day before the first bid.

DCC shareholders will receive £65.25 per share in cash and a proposed final dividend of 147.22 pence, as well as an additional payment ⁠of up to £1.25 per share dependent on the sale of its Nexora technology business for at least $800m.

The deal is KKR’s largest public-to-private transaction in Europe in more than a decade. The Gibson Dunn team advising the investment firm was led from London by corporate partners Will McDonald and Federico Fruhbeck.

Meanwhile, the Latham team advising ECP and Bidco was led by London corporate partners Doug Abernethy and David Walker, while at Matheson the effort was led by the firm’s head of corporate, David Fitzgibbon, and corporate partners David Jones and Susanne McMenamin.

Kirkland’s team acting for Bidco was led by London debt finance partners Sinead O’Shea and Jia Meng.

The Cleary public M&A team was led by London partner Nick Rumsby, while at William Fry, which has advised DCC for more than 40 years, the team was headed by M&A partner Mark Talbot.

The proposed deal, which is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2027.

Goldman Sachs International and Morgan Stanley & Co. International are acting as lead financial advisers to the consortium and Bidco. Barclays Bank, acting through its Investment Bank, and BNP Paribas are acting as financial advisers to the consortium and Bidco.

JP Morgan Cazenove is acting as financial adviser and corporate broker to DCC Energy. UBS is acting as financial adviser and corporate broker to DCC Energy. J&E Davy is acting as corporate broker to DCC Energy.

The deal comes at a time of heightened interest by private equity in UK-listed companies that are trading at comparatively low valuations. Foreign bids drove UK M&A in H1 2026, Reuters reported, with a total value ⁠of more than $197bn, the highest year-to-date total since records began in 1980, according to data from LSEG.

That interest has produced a flurry of work for Big Law and Magic Circle firms. Earlier this month, Paul Weiss advised US investment firm Apollo Global Management on its surprise £5.7bn ($7.7bn) bid for easyJet, repped by Clifford Chance, while rival bidder Castelake was advised by Slaughter and May.

Meanwhile, Intertek agreed to be taken private by EQT in June, in a deal that saw Freshfields and Slaughter and May score lead roles and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Clifford Chance, Linklaters and Sweden’s Vinge also called in.