CHRIS BARBUTO is a partner in the firm’s New York office. Chris’ principal practice area is Mergers and Acquisitions and he has significant experience with complex cross-border transactions, “carve out” dispositions, joint ventures and strategic alliances. Chris has also advised clients on several antitrust “remedy” M&A transactions.
Chris’s representations at Sidley have included the following, among other matters:
- Jefferies Finance LLC (JFIN) in its corporate reorganization, in connection with the recently announced strategic alliance between Jefferies Financial Group, Inc., a 50% owner of JFIN, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation to collaborate on corporate and investment banking business opportunities.
- GIC, in its agreement to acquire an indirect 19.9% equity interest in Duke Energy Indiana, a subsidiary of Duke Energy Corporation, for a total purchase price of US$2.05 billion.
- CareerBuilder, a portfolio company majority-owned by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc. and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, in its sale of Textkernel, a CareerBuilder subsidiary company and global leading AI powered HR technology provider headquartered in the Netherlands, to Main Capital Partners.
- The Board of Directors of FirstCaribbean, in CIBC’s agreement to sell a significant portion of its majority stake in FirstCaribbean to GNB Financial Group Limited.
- Rexel USA, in its divestiture of its Gexpro Services business unit to LKCM Headwater Investments.
- General Electric Company, in its agreement to sell its direct and indirect interests in GE-Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment LLC to Silex Systems Limited and Cameco Corporation.
- General Electric Company, in its joint venture with BlackRock Real Assets, to design, build, own and operate distributed solar and storage solutions.
- General Electric Company, in its global joint venture with Baker Hughes for aero-derivative gas turbine engines and related transactions for GE’s separation from Baker Hughes.
- Carlyle, in a partnership to acquire the laboratory services business of Weatherford International plc for US$205 million.
- OMERS, in its acquisition of a 50% interest in the BridgeTex crude oil pipeline for ~US$1.4 billion from, and its formation of a three-way joint venture for BridgeTex with, Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. and Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P., recognized as “Best Oil & Gas Acquisition” by the 2019 IJ Investor Awards.
- Seqens, a portfolio company of Eurazeo, in its acquisition of PCI Synthesis, a leading U.S. pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO). Seqens is a global player in pharmaceutical synthesis, advanced specialties and cosmetics.
- GSO Capital Partners LP and 3Bear Energy, LLC, its portfolio company, in a transaction involving the anchor shipper on a gathering and processing system in the Northern Delaware Basin.
- GIC Special Investments, in its investment in Virtu Financial, Inc. as equity financing for Virtu’s acquisition of KCG Holdings, Inc. GIC made the investment through North Island, a newly-formed partnership, in conjunction with Public Sector Pension Investment Board and North Island’s principals.
- GE on various aspects of its €9.2 billion acquisition of Alstom’s Power and Grid businesses, GE’s Grid Solutions and Renewables joint ventures with Alstom, the divestiture by GE to Ansaldo Energia S.p.A. of Alstom’s PSM gas turbine servicing business and the restructuring of related joint ventures. GE negotiated the PSM divestiture transaction with Ansaldo to address U.S. Department of Justice and European Commission objections to GE’s acquisition of Alstom’s businesses.
- OneMain Holdings, Inc. in its divestiture of 127 of its branches to Lendmark Financial Services, LLC, an affiliate of The Blackstone Group L.P., for a cash purchase price of US$624 million. The OneMain-Lendmark transaction was the result of an agreement among OneMain, the U.S. Department of Justice and various state Attorneys General in connection with the acquisition of OneMain Financial Holdings, Inc. from CitiFinancial Credit Company.
- GE, in the sale to BWX Technologies, Inc. of GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc., a leading supplier of fuel, fuel handling systems, delivery systems and replacement components for CANDU® nuclear reactors.
- GE, in its terminated divestiture of GE Appliances to AB Electrolux (which preceded GE’s sale of GE Appliances to Haier for US$5.4 billion).
- General Electric Capital Corporation, in its sale of its Guaranteed Investment Contract (GIC) business to Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company.
- ArrowStream, Inc., in its cash merger transaction with Diversis Capital LLC.
Chris was with GE for nine years prior to joining Sidley. During his tenure at GE, Chris had significant roles in some of GE’s most noteworthy M&A matters, including GE’s sale of its Global Plastics business to Saudi Arabia Basic Industries for US$11.6 billion and its investment in and worldwide alliance with China’s XD Electric Group. Many of Chris’s M&A transactions at GE included sourcing or other commercial relationships. Chris spent four years with GE Capital’s Energy Financial Services business, where he counseled GE on its power generation joint venture with ArcLight Capital Partners and GIC, GE’s ownership and eventual sale of a controlling stake in the Regency Energy Partners MLP and numerous other infrastructure, energy, project finance, M&A and “clean tech” venture capital transactions.
Prior to joining GE, Chris was an associate at a large international law firm where he practiced in the areas of M&A and securities law in New York and Paris.
Chris passed Level I of the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) Program.