London—Dentons has advised the private equity purchasers on the acquisition of Imperial Brands' hand-rolled cigars business for £1.1 billion.

The acquisition includes the brands Cohiba, Montecristo and Romeo y Julieta. The business has operations in 150 countries.

Dentons acted for the private equity purchasers and the transaction was led by Nicholas Plant, Corporate UK partner and co-leader of Dentons' global private equity practice. He said, "We were delighted to advise our clients on this landmark acquisition. It was extremely complex, given the US sanctions against Cuba, operations in 150 countries, the combination of share and assets sales – and doing it all against the background of COVID-19."

The private equity purchasers said, "Dentons were extremely thorough and, at the same time, were able to cut through the detail and give us the conclusions we needed to close this complex transaction. We are very happy with the end results and were impressed with the stamina Dentons demonstrated throughout the process."

Alongside Nicholas Plant, the cross border team included Corporate partner Jesús Durán who advised on Spanish law matters and Hermenegildo Altozano who advised on Cuban law matters. 

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