Paul Hastings Represents David Murdock in Historic Second Going Private Transaction for Dole Food Company

November 01, 2013

Orange County, CA-- Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, announced today that it advised David H. Murdock in the successful completion of the $1.6 billion acquisition of Dole Food Company, Inc., marking the first time in history a company has been taken private twice by the same person.

Mr. Murdock first took Dole private in 2003, and Dole completed a public offering in 2009. In May Mr. Murdock offered to acquire all the shares he did not own and, following review by a special committee of independent directors and extensive negotiations, a merger agreement was executed in August. After a proxy statement was prepared and filed, stockholders approved the merger and the transaction was completed on November 1st.

The financing included a $300 million private placement offering of senior secured notes, a $725 million senior secured term loan facility, and a $175 million asset-based revolving loan facility.

A team of Paul Hastings lawyers in several offices across the United States advised on merger, financing and litigation aspects of the transaction.

Corporate partner Peter Tennyson led and coordinated the Paul Hastings team. Mr. Tennyson led the M&A efforts along with M&A partner Claudia Simon, and associates Melissa Garcia, Elizabeth Razzano, Mike LaPlante and Olga Marshall.

Leveraged Finance partner Michael Chernick and of counsel Lindsay Sparks advised on the financing aspects of the transaction along with associates Melissa Muscat, Felicia Yen, Tahira Prince, Paul Henesy, Sergey Milyukov, Alexa Ciganer, and Antonella Castro.

Antitrust partner C. Scott Hataway and associate Noah Pinegar obtained antitrust clearances in the US, the EU, Russia, Ukraine and Austria.

Paul Hastings partners Peter Stone and Edward Han, and associates Rachana Fischer, Ryan Fawaz, Hidemi Chen and Christie Mathis represented Mr. Murdock in the merger related litigation.

Paul Hastings LLP is a leading global law firm with offices in Asia, Europe, and the United States. We provide innovative legal solutions to financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies. Please visit www.paulhastings.com for more information.