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— Deal Diary —
John Schmidt has scored another infrastructure deal. A partner at Mayer Brown LLP
in Chicago, Schmidt, who is quickly emerging as the leading lawyer in
advising state and local governments looking to sell off infrastructure
assets, advised Chicago in its $2.5 billion privatization of Midway
Airport, announced Sept. 30. The transaction is the first privatization
of a major U.S. airport.
The acquirer of Chicago's second-largest airport behind O'Hare International is Midway Investment and Development Co. LLC, an investor group that includes YVR Airport Services Ltd., an affiliate of the Vancouver International Airport Authority; Citi Infrastructure Investors of New York; and John Hancock Life Insurance Co. based in Boston. While Mayer Brown was Chicago's lead counsel on the deal, the city also turned to local law firms, including Cotillas and Associates; Pugh, Jones, Johnson & Quandt PC; and Sanchez Daniels & Hoffman LLP. Cotillas founder Eduardo Cotillas was previously a partner at Pugh Jones, where he specialized in aviation, and he was also a counsel for the city of Chicago's Department of Law.
For financial advice, Chicago turned to Credit Suisse Group's Mark Morehouse and Steve Koch in Chicago and Phil Iley in London. Banc of America Securities LLC's Jason Anderson in New York, minority-owned M.R. Beal & Co., the investment banking boutique run by Stanley Grayson, a former New York City deputy mayor and Goldman, Sachs & Co. banker, and Banco Popular North America Inc.'s Maria Saldana also worked for Chicago on the deal. The financial and legal advisers on the deal will be paid $19 million, with the lead adviser earning $6.9 million, and Banc of America receiving $2.5 million. M.R. Beal and Banco Popular will be paid $1.6 million each. The investment consortium turned to O'Melveny & Myers LLP's Los Angeles-based partner Eric Richards, who led a multioffice, multipractice O'Melveny team including partners Denise Raytis, Joe Kim and Todd Triller in structuring the bid. Citi Infrastructure Investors, Citigroup Inc.'s alternative investment business, formed in 2007, turned to a team of Citigroup Global Markets Inc. bankers for financial advice, including Lou Susman, Michael Canmann, Andrew Walters and Mary Amor. The deal is considered a success for Mayer Brown and Schmidt, who is a longtime friend of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Daley estimates the transaction will bring the city more than $1 billion in net proceeds. Schmidt's government deals include advising Chicago's privatization of the Chicago Skyway Toll Bridge System for $1.83 billion and representing the state of Indiana in the $3.8 billion privatization of the Indiana Toll Road. Mayer Brown also worked with Pugh Jones and Sanchez Daniels on the Chicago Skyway project. Most recently, Schmidt led a Mayer Brown team representing the state of Pennsylvania in a $12.8 billion agreement on a 75-year lease of its turnpike to Abertis Infraestructuras SA, Citi Infrastructure Investors, and Criteria CaixaCorp SA. That bid expired on Sept. 30 -- the same day that the Midway deal came through. Mayer Brown was co-counsel with Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll LLP of Philadelphia on the Pennsylvania Turnpike deal. |
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