Benjamin Fidler

Primary Focus & Experience

Mr. Fidler represents acquirors, buyout groups, sellers, targets, boards of directors and special committees in a range of complex domestic and cross-border transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, carveout divestitures, minority equity investments and other corporate and strategic transactions. Mr. Fidler’s clients include public and private companies, private equity firms, asset managers and funds, and span a broad range of industries.

Mr. Fidler’s recent representations include:

Private Equity and Institutional Investors

• Castlelake L.P., a global alternative investment manager specializing in aircraft investing, leasing and servicing, in connection with its sale of a $5 billion, 118-aircraft portfolio held by Castlelake Aviation Limited, to Avolon, a leading global aviation finance company.
• Anthology, a Veritas Capital portfolio company, in (i) the sale of Anthology’s Blackboard Collaborate virtual classroom tool to Class Technologies, Inc. and (ii) the sale of Anthology’s Blackboard K-12 Community Engagement division to Finalsite Holdings, Inc.
• One Equity Partners in the sale of its portfolio company Computer Design & Integration, LLC, to AHEAD, Inc., a leading provider of digital platforms for data, AI, infrastructure, and software development. 
• Apollo Global Management and PK Airfinance in the acquisition of a $920 million portfolio of secured aviation loans from Standard Chartered Bank.
• Veritas Capital in the take-private acquisition of Syneos Health, a biopharmaceutical solutions provider, by a consortium that also included Elliott Investment Management and Patient Square Capital, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $7.1 billion.

Infrastructure and Energy

• Blackstone Credit & Insurance on its approximately $3.5 billion structured investment in a newly-formed joint venture with EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT), with an implied JV valuation of approximately $8.8 billion. The joint venture holds EQT’s interest in certain high-quality, contracted infrastructure assets in the Appalachian region:  the Mountain Valley Pipeline (Series A), the Hammerhead Pipeline and certain other FERC-regulated transmission and storage assets.
• Hartree Partners in the sale of its natural gas storage portfolio to Williams (WMB.N) for $1.95 billion.
• Actis and its portfolio company, Valia Energía, in its acquisition of EVM Energía, two advanced natural gas-powered plants with a combined output of 950 MWs, located near Mexico City.
• Macquarie Asset Management’s Green Investment Group in the formation of a joint venture with Hydro Rein to build and operate Feijão, a 586 MW combined wind and solar power project in the northeast of Brazil.
• New Fortress Energy Inc. and Eletricidade do Brasil S.A. in its sale of LNG-to-power facilities to Eneva S.A. for approximately US $1.29 billion.
• Queensland Investment Corporation in its investment in Generate Capital, a leading sustainable energy and infrastructure platform.
• Cathcart Rail’s acquisition of the railcar repair business of The Andersons, Inc. and a related new investment in Cathcart Rail by Nuveen.

Strategic/Public Companies and Board Advisory

• ORBCOMM Inc., a global provider of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, in connection with its acquisition by GI Partners in an all-cash transaction that valued ORBCOMM at approximately $1.1 billion.
• Special committees of independent directors of public companies in connection with strategic transactions and related MFW process considerations, including proposed de-SPAC transactions and other sales of control involving controlling shareholders.
• Major League Baseball in connection with the initial investment and subsequent acquisition of a controlling stake in BAMTech, MLB’s streaming technology business, by the Walt Disney Company.*
• American Casino and Entertainment Properties in the sale of a portfolio including the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas to Golden Entertainment.*

*Matters handled prior to joining Milbank.

Recognition & Accomplishments

Mr. Fidler earned his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School and received his B.A., summa cum laude and valedictorian, from Claremont McKenna College. Following law school, Mr. Fidler served as a law clerk to the Honorable Ralph K. Winter of the Second Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals.