Following the acquisition, Park24 now operates parking spaces for about 1.2 million cars in eight countries. National Car Parks was founded in 1931 in London and currently operates approximately 500 parking lots for 150,000 spaces in the UK.
This is the second foreign acquisition on which Ashurst advised Park24, having earlier advised the company on its acquisition of Secure Parking in Australia.
The Ashurst team was led by corporate partner Hiroyuki Iwamura, assisted by partner Tara Waters, and associates Shingo Ito and Kazuki Tahara. Partner Jamie Chapman, and counsel Jonathan Hoare and Eleanor Reeves provided real estate/environmental law advice. Partner Paul Miller and associate Martin Voelker provided tax and structuring advice, and partner Euan Burrows and senior associate Alexi Dimitriou advised on the competition law aspects of the transaction. Employment advice was provided by partner Crowley Woodford, assisted by associates Hannah Martin and James Almond. Incentives advice was provided by senior associate Rebecca Servian, and counsel John Gordon and senior associate Liz Ramsaran advised on the pension aspects. Finance advice was provided by senior associates Katharine Tuohy and Victoria Charlesworth.
Park24 was also represented by a Japanese law firm, Nishimura & Asahi and DBJ by Nagashima Ohno Tsunematsu.
Commenting on the transaction, Natsuko Ogawa, the Ashurst client relationship partner for Park24, said:
"We are delighted to have been able to close a second major cross-border M&A transaction for Park 24, working together with Nishimura & Asahi, following the closing of Park 24's acquisition of Secure Parking in Australia, NZ, Singapore and Malaysia in January 2017."
Hiroyuki Iwamura added:
"This deal highlights the strength of our premier Japanese practice in London. Our team is dedicated to assisting Japanese clients on the ground by using our Japanese language capability and the knowledge of local law and business."
