The Firm is representing Silver Lake Partners and GIC, a current investor in Ancestry, in the acquisition of substantial equity stakes in Ancestry.com LLC from existing equity holders at an enterprise value of approximately $2.6 billion. Following the transaction, Silver Lake and GIC will hold equal minority ownership positions in Ancestry.
Ancestry, a global leader in family history and consumer genomics, has more than 2.2 million paying subscribers across its core Ancestry internet properties. The company harnesses the information found in its 17 billion digitized historical records, subscribers’ 78 million family trees, and 1.5 million DNA samples to help people gain insight into their heritage.
The Simpson Thacher team included Rich Capelouto, Robert Langdon, Simon Chiu, Fred de Albuquerque and Duncan Taylor (Corporate); Jason Vollbracht and Tanvi Mirani (Tax); Tristan Brown, Linda Barrett and Leah Segall (Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits); Jeff Ostrow, Michelle Morad and Linda Nyberg (Intellectual Property); Peter Thomas and Ellen Frye (Antitrust); Jonathan Karen and Townshine Wu (Funds); and Joyce Xu and Shimeng Cheng (Derivatives).