Latham & Watkins, Argus Partners, JSA, Ropes & Gray, Khaitan & Co and Baker Botts have advised on the acquisition of Molycop Group, a leading global supplier of grinding media for the mining industry, by Tega Industries Limited in consortium with funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management from American Industrial Partners (AIP).

The transaction values Molycop at an enterprise value of approximately US$1.45 billion.

Molycop serves more than 400 mines across 40 countries and supplies consumables critical to mineral extraction and processing. Following completion of the transaction, Tega will become the controlling shareholder of Molycop, with Apollo Funds holding a significant minority interest.

Latham & Watkins advised Apollo Global Management and Tega Industries on the acquisition and the financing for the transaction. Latham also advised Apollo on the consortium arrangements between Apollo and Tega.

The Latham team was led by Partners James Clayton-Payne, Justin Rosenberg, Nicholas Luongo and Marc Granger, with support from Counsel Edward Tang and Penelope Davey, and Associates Elisabeth Ong, Jenny Yuan, Dustin Davis, Hanks Bird and Harrison Halberg.

Argus Partners advised Tega Industries and the Tega-Apollo joint venture on the formation of the consortium and the acquisition of Molycop.

The deal team comprised Managing Partner Krishnava Dutt; Partners Armaan Patkar and Jaidrath Zaveri; Senior Associate Anish Kapoor; and Associates Kanishk G. And Vishakha Somani. The team was supported by Partner Aayush Kumar and Associate Srishti Solanki.

Anti-trust advice was provided by Partner Adity Chaudhury, along with Associates Anika Sharma, Anoushka Mani and Suvanwesh Das.

Debt financing advice was provided by Partners Aastha and Aseem Dhawan, along with Associates Dharani Maddula, Khushi Doshi and Mrunalini Vengurlekar.

Employment and labour law advice was provided by Partner Arka Majumdar.

JSA advised the consortium of lenders in connection with term loan facilities aggregating INR 1,500 crore availed by Tega Industries to finance the acquisition.

The transaction was led by Partner Tirthankar Datta, with support from Partner Sucheta Bhattacharya, Senior Associate Ciol Kumar and Associate Aaditya Shukla.

Ropes & Gray advised American Industrial Partners on the sale of Molycop.

The Ropes & Gray team included private equity partners Doug Giannantonio, Bob Rivollier and Victoria McGrath; finance partners Dan Coyne and Stefanie Birkmann; tax partners David Saltzman, Tristan Evans-Wilent and Chris Agnoli; employment, executive compensation and benefits partners Allie Alperovich and Megan Bisk, and associate Madeline Cooper; environmental partner Peter Alpert; tax counsel Tom Spera and Michael Mendel; and private equity counsel Jennifer Gorman.

Khaitan & Co advised funds managed by American Industrial Partners in connection with the sale of Molycop Group.

The core team consisted of Partner Ashwin Bishnoi, Senior Associate Amanee Kadakia and Associate Pranshu Gupta.

The transaction was assisted by Partner Abhishek Dadoo and Senior Associate Gaurang Mansinghka (Corporate & Commercial); Executive Director Sudhir Bassi (Capital Markets); Partner Rahul Jain and Senior Associate Jinisha Jain (Direct Tax); and Partner Pranjal Prateek (Competition/Antitrust).

Baker Botts advised American Industrial Partners and Molycop as regulatory counsel on the transaction.

The Baker Botts team was led by Partner Paul Cuomo and included Special Counsel Christine Ryu-Naya and Mike Bodosky; Partner Catriona Hatton; Special Counsel Sofia Doudountsaki; Senior Associate Ciara Barbu-O’Connor; and Associate Louis Delvaux.