(Bloomberg) -- Antonio Weiss is back in the dealmaking game, playing a key part in a $4.5 billion deal Monday involving chipmaker Qualcomm Inc.
SSW Partners, the former Lazard Ltd. banker's new outfit founded with two partners, is teaming up with Qualcomm to acquire autoparts supplier Veoneer Inc. But it's not a straightforward deal.
At closing, SSW will acquire all of Veoneer's stock. Shortly after, it will sell Arriver, Veoneer's technology unit, to Qualcomm and retain the auto parts business. SSW will then hold a sales process for the rest of the company.
There's a reason for the unusual structure. From the beginning, Qualcomm only wanted to buy the Arriver assets and had no interest in owning the auto-parts units that make up the bulk up Veoneer.
Bringing in SSW was done to close a deal as quickly as possible and free up Qualcomm to focus on the Arriver business, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal is expected to close within six months, said one of the people, who asked to not be identified because the details are private.
New York-based SSW was formed this year along with partners Eric Schwartz and Joshua Steiner. Schwartz is a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive.
Steiner is a senior adviser at Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.
SSW is designed to be a small firm focused on completing a handful of deals, the people said, adding that it's flexible on what kind of investments it could take on and it's more interested in backing management teams as opposed to operating companies.
With deep connections in business and government, Weiss was a counselor to the U.S. Treasury Department under former Secretary Jack Lew and former President Barack Obama.
Known for working on some of the largest consumer deals, a limited partnership Weiss created popped up as an adviser to Keurig Green Mountain Inc. when it bought Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. in 2018.
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