Simpson Thacher is advising EQT Infrastructure in connection with its acquisition of First Student and First Transit, two North American subsidiaries of the U.K. publicly listed company, FirstGroup plc for $4.6 billion. EQT Infrastructure will invest in organizational, operational and digital technology enhancement opportunities to further differentiate First Student and First Transit’s service offering and First Student and First Transit will benefit from EQT’s global advisor network and in-house digitalization and sustainability expertise. The transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals and is expected to close in Summer 2021.
Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, First Student and First Transit are market leading providers of essential transportation services to schools and communities in North America. First Student is the largest student transportation service provider in North America, providing over 900 million student journeys a year to approximately 1,000 school districts and was founded in 1983. First Transit is a leading public transit management operator that transports 350 million passengers annually across approximately 300 locations in North America and was founded in 1955.
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with more than EUR 67 billion in assets under management across 26 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with total sales of approximately EUR 29 billion and more than 175,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.
The Simpson Thacher team includes Naveed Anwar, Robert Langdon, Michael T. Holick, Frederick W.P. De Albuquerque, Fiona S. Gillan and Jessica Mason (U.S. M&A); Amy Mahon and James Campisi (U.K. M&A); Eli Isak, Brian Steinhardt and Dorothy Anne Hector (Credit); Hui Lin and Adriana Estor (Capital Markets); Jeannine McSweeney, Ashlie Lawton and Caitlin M. Fitzgerald (Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits); Robert Lee and Vandana Harris (Funds); Jonathan Goldstein and Scott Grundei (Tax); Genevieve Dorment and Kate Mirino (Intellectual Property); Jonathan Lindabury and Nathan Utterback (Derivatives); Dennis Loiacono and Sheryl G. Koretz (Real Estate); Adeeb Fadil and Noreen Lavan (Environmental); and Sara Y. Razi, Kelly Karapetyan and Nicholas L. Ingros (Antitrust).