Nordstrom’s $6.25 Billion Take Private Deal Feeds Big Law Firms

Several leading M&A law firms are steering a sweeping deal to take century-old retail chain Nordstrom Inc. private.

The Nordstrom family and Mexican department store chain El Puerto de Liverpool SAB will acquire all outstanding common shares of Nordstrom in a transaction valued at about $6.25 billion, including debt, the company said Monday. The Nordstrom family will maintain a majority stake in the company of 50.1% and Liverpool will own 49.9%.

Lawyers from Sidley Austin and Perkins Coie are steering the special committee of the Nordstrom board of directors. Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, Lane Powell, and Davis Wright Tremaine are advising the Nordstrom Family.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Mexican firm Galicia Abogados, S.C. are guiding Liverpool in the deal. Simpson Thacher’s team includes M&A partners Benjamin Schaye and Juan Francisco Méndez; banking and credit partner Justin Lungstrum; executive compensation and employee benefits partner Jeannine McSweeney; and tax partners Andrew Purcell and Adam Arikat.

Sullivan & Cromwell is representing Morgan Stanley & Co. and Centerview Partners as financial advisers to the special committee of Nordstrom. Its team is led by New York-based corporate partners Melissa Sawyer and Lee C. Parnes.

Take private transactions are an increasingly popular option for companies seeking relief from shareholder activists and reporting requirements.

Novo Holdings in February announced a $16.2 billion deal to take Catalent Inc. private. Silver Lake Management two months later announced plans to take Endeavor Group Holdings private for $10 billion.