Freshfields is advising Cencora (NYSE: COR) on its definitive agreement today with Covetrus, a global animal health technology and services company, under which MWI Animal Health (MWI) and Covetrus will merge, creating a combined company offering a comprehensive animal health platform. The transaction values MWI at an enterprise value of $3.5bn. Upon closing, Cencora will receive upfront cash proceeds of $1.25bn, $800m in preferred equity and $1.45bn paid in common equity in the combined company, resulting in a non-controlling 34.3% common equity stake in the combined company. Learn more about this transaction here.

The Freshfields team is led by partners Damien Zoubek and Joshua Ayal and counsel Lisa Cammer and includes associates Alexandra Ghelerter, Jenny Park, Casey Hagen, Yoosong Lee, Michelle Lee and Hannah Krutiansky on corporate and M&A matters. Additional team members include partner Nicole Foster, senior associate Jeffrey Anand and associate Emily Shaw on executive compensation and employee benefits matters; partner Vinita Kailasanath, senior associate Zackory Burns and associates Shannon O’Hara and Yungjee Kim on intellectual property and commercial matters; partners Kyle Lakin and Ryan Blicher, senior associate Sonam Cheema and associates Nora McDonnell and Collette Moura on financing matters; partner Joe Soltis and associates Hannah Golden and Ryan Sweeney on tax matters; partners Meghan Rissmiller and Jan Rybnicek, counsels Andrew Cline and Elizabeth Suarez, senior associate Iris Zhou and associates Tim Swartz, Gabriella Small, Anna Baranko, David Bornudd and Eleanor Liu on antitrust matters; partner Pamela Marcogliese, counsel Jeremy Barr, senior associate Nick Singer and associate Ginger Hervey on capital markets matters; partner Stephanie Brown Cripps and associate Young Park on sanctions and anti-corruption matters; partner Brock Dahl, senior associate Christine Chong and associate Yusuf Tarr on cybersecurity and data privacy matters; partner John Rousakis on environmental matters; counsel Jeremiah Nelson and associates Tosin Owoka and Kate Koudouna on real estate matters; and a UK team consisting of partners Alexander Watt and Colin Raftery and associates Mohammad Bagash, Anna Smith and Ola McLees on UK regulatory matters.