Norton Rose Fulbright advises Mercer on Cardano acquisition

International law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised global consulting business Mercer on its acquisition of Cardano. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close towards the end of 2024.

Mercer employs more than 20,000 people, based in 43 countries, and operates in over 130 countries. It is part of Marsh McLennan, the global insurance broking and professional services group.

Cardano is a long-term savings specialist in the UK and the Netherlands, with approximately US$66 billion in assets under management. It offers a range of fiduciary management, investment advisory services, and liability-driven investing and derivatives solutions to both defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes.

The deal will help Mercer position itself as a pension provider of choice in the UK and the Netherlands, as well as support its global expansion to serve other large asset owners, including endowments and foundations, family offices and insurers.

The core Norton Rose Fulbright team advising Mercer on the deal was led by London-based Marsh McLennan relationship partner Matt Foster and counsel David Bartlett, with support from associates Jack Whelan and Daisy Larcombe.

They were assisted by a wider Norton Rose Fulbright team of more than 60 fee earners from the firm’s Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Luxembourg and Newcastle offices. These included partner Saskia Blokland, counsel Rogier de Haan and Nikolai de Koning, and senior associate Carlo van Haasteren in Amsterdam, as well as partners Dominic Stuttaford, Albert Weatherill and Lesley Browning, counsel Matthew O’Shea, Ben Wright and Jamie Cooke, and associate Sofia Casselbrant in London.

Partner Matt Foster said:

“We were delighted to be able to assist our client Mercer with this significant and complex multi-jurisdictional deal, which will see both companies come together to provide an enhanced offering for their respective pension and investment clients in the UK and Netherlands.”

This is another landmark transaction for Norton Rose Fulbright’s insurance and asset management group which recently advised Mercer on its acquisition of the US investment advisory division of Vanguard Institutional Advisory Services. The Norton Rose Fulbright team, led by partners Richard Sheen and Clementine Hogarth, also recently advised Conning Holdings Limited and Cathay Life Insurance on the acquisition of Conning by Generali Investment Holdings for all share consideration to create a leading European asset manager with approximately US$845 billion of assets under management.

With more than 450 M&A partners and 700 other M&A lawyers across its 50+ offices worldwide, Norton Rose Fulbright provides a truly integrated and global approach on both domestic and cross-border M&A deals. The firm has a full service M&A offering - including tax, labour, intellectual property, real estate, acquisition finance and antitrust advice – and its lawyers have advised on some of the most high-profile, complex and significant transactions in the market.