The Firm is representing SMART Worldwide Holdings and its controlling shareholders, Silver Lake Partners and Silver Lake Sumeru, in connection with the announced sale of SMART Storage Systems to SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) for approximately $307 million in cash and additional equity related incentives. SMART Storage Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SMART Worldwide Holdings, is a leading provider of current and next-generation enterprise solid state drive products and technology.
Silver Lake invested in SMART Storage in August 2011 as part of its take-private investment in SMART Worldwide Holdings via a partnership between the firm’s Silver Lake Partners and Silver Lake Sumeru investment strategies. In connection with the investment, Silver Lake separated SMART Storage into an independent entity to allow the company increased flexibility and to capitalize on the rapidly growing demand from enterprise customers for solid state storage.
The transaction is expected to be completed during August 2013, subject to customary regulatory and other approvals.
The Simpson Thacher team includes Chad Skinner, Nick Washburn, Alexis Orenstein and Brendan Baker (M&A), Tristan Brown and Linda Barrett (ECEB), Dan Foster (Tax), Lori Lesser, Joshua Walker and Michael Hasper (Intellectual Property), Joe Tringali, Michael Naughton and Ken Ehrhard (Antitrust).