US private equity fund Riverwood Capital and global data centre services provider Equinix have sought counsel from Machado, Meyer, Sendacz e Opice Advogados in their US$127 million acquisition of a 90 per cent stake in Brazil′s ALOG Data Centres.

In the deal that closed on 9 February and became public a week later, Davis Polk & Wardwell also advised Equinix, with TozziniFreire Advogados working on behalf of ALOG′s shareholders. The sale will give Equinix a controlling interest in the company and Riverwood a significant minority stake. The remaining 10 per cent of ALOG will remain in the hands of current members of its management team.

According to the terms of the investment, beginning three years after the close of the transaction, Equinix will possess the right, and in certain circumstances may be required, to acquire 100 per cent of the company.

In January, Machado Meyer advised Riverwood Capital in its purchase of Synapsis from Enersis, a subsidiary of Endesa España, in a move allowing the Chile-based IT company to continue its expansion in technology services across Latin America.

The latest M&A deal looks set to repeat this pattern, expanding Equinix′s network to include 95 data centres across 37 global markets and allowing it to extend its Platform Equinix service to South America. It also gives the company valuable data space in the rapidly expanding Brazilian market. ALOG is also on track to develop a third data centre in Tamboré, a suburb of São Paulo.

On Friday, Davis Polk announced it will open an office in São Paulo later this year if its plans are approved by Brazil′s authorities.

Counsel to Equinix

·         In-house counsel to Equinix - Kurt Pletcher

US

·         Davis Polk & Wardwell

Partners Alan Denenberg and Rachel Kleinberg, and associates Vincent Cannon and Ryan LaRosa

Counsel to Riverwood Capital and Equinix

Brazil

·         Machado, Meyer, Sendacz e Opice Advogados

Partner Giovanni Biscardi and associates Mariana Castello, Mariana Meditsch and Daniane Carvalho

Counsel to ALOG

·         In-house counsel - Rodrigo Benício

·         TozziniFreire Advogados

Partner Francisco Oliveira Neto and associate Bruna Luiza Tarnovski

(Latin Lawyer 21.02.2011)

(Notícia na Íntegra)