Market Standards Trend Report

Tom Bacon, Partner, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP

Tom Bacon is a Partner in BCLP’s Corporate Transactions team, with a practice focused on global public markets, advising both issuers and investment banks. He has deep experience across capital markets transactions, including IPOs, secondary offerings, and ongoing advisory for listed companies on their regulatory obligations, as well as domestic and cross-border public and private M&A.

Tom Brassington, Senior Partner in the Corporate & Finance Practice Group, Hogan Lovells

Tom is a Senior Partner in Hogan Lovells' London Corporate & Finance practice group. He is ranked in Chambers Global for Corporate/M&A, with his expertise in international and cross-border M&A highlighted in particular. He has experience across a wide variety of work including public and private M&A, joint ventures, restructurings, private equity and equity capital markets. Whilst Tom is a generalist M&A practitioner, he regularly acts for clients in the Life Sciences and Technology, Media & Telecoms sectors. Tom is based in London but has also practiced in both Dubai and Hong Kong.

Edward Davies, Freelance Consultant

Ed is a corporate knowledge lawyer, legal training consultant and content writer with significant experience across several areas of corporate law, governance, and financial regulation. He has held posts with LexisNexis, Practical Law, the FCA and BPP University. In a freelance capacity Ed has many years of experience as a training consultant, report writer and AI content advisor with a particular interest in corporate regulatory compliance, corporate governance and broader compliance matters.

Giles Distin, Partner in the Corporate Finance Team, Addleshaw Goddard LLP

Giles is a Partner in the Corporate Finance team at Addleshaw Goddard. He is an expert in advising on UK securities regulation and listed company transactions, including takeovers and other regulated M&A transactions, IPOs, reverse takeovers and public equity fundraisings involving companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Giles was seconded for two years to the Takeover Panel and is one of a select number of lawyers in the UK with cutting edge experience of takeovers gained both in private practice and at the competent authority for regulating takeovers and mergers.

Nicola Evans, Senior Partner in the Corporate & Finance Practice, Hogan Lovells

Nicola is a Senior Partner in the London Corporate & Finance practice of Hogan Lovells. Nicola’s broad experience is international and extends to corporate transactions, domestic and cross-border M&A, joint ventures, the Takeover Code, disclosure and governance issues, securities law and the Listing Rules as well as secondary capital raising and restructurings. Nicola is leader of Hogan Lovells’ Insurance Sector, the first woman in the firm to be appointed to this role.

Iain Fenn, Corporate Partner, Linklaters LLP

Iain advises London listed and international companies on their most significant issues including public and private M&A, corporate restructurings and public offerings. He has acted as lead counsel to clients on many of the market’s most significant public company transactions in a career of over 30 years, including hostile public offers and many large and complex demergers. As well as an in depth knowledge of the UK public offer regime, Iain’s experience includes public transactions in all European jurisdictions, North America, the Middle East and Asia. Iain also regularly advises the boards of a number of London listed companies on strategic and governance issues and has considerable experience in activist as well as defence situations. Clients report that they ‘benefit from his insight and ability to take a view on topics as they come up’ and that ‘his gravitas and experience give us confidence.’ Iain’s expertise spans many sectors.

James Fletcher, Partner in the Corporate Practice Group, Ashurst LLP

James is a Partner in Ashurst's corporate practice. He specialises in public and private M&A, equity capital markets transactions, and corporate governance work.

Jonathan Ford, Partner in the Antitrust & Foreign Investment Group, Linklaters LLP

Jonathan is a Partner in Linklaters' antitrust & foreign investment group and has over a decade of experience working on a broad range of EU & UK competition law issues. Jonathan has particular specialism in complex UK mergers, having spent six months on secondment to the CMA, gaining valuable knowledge of top level decision makers and internal processes. He has experience across a range of sectors but is a particular expert in pharma, fintech & tech markets as well as having deep regulatory expertise, advising in relation to the price controls (and appeals) in the water and gas distribution sectors. Jonathan advised Quantile on the acquisition by the London Stock Exchange group, which included a rare CMA UK Phase 2 unconditional clearance, Vistry plc on its merger with Countryside plc as well as advising Press Association Holdings in relation to the sale of the Telegraph and the Spectator. Clients have described him as ‘very responsive and a pleasure to work with – a very strong talent’.

Matthew Hearn, Partner in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Matthew is a partner in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group of Paul, Weiss. Matthew advises clients on sophisticated domestic and cross-border corporate transactions, with a focus on public takeovers across a broad range of industries. Matthew’s public takeovers practice encompasses representing both bidders and target companies, including international and UK entities, in recommended, hostile and competitive situations. He also co-manages the firm’s UK Public M&A practice and is a member of the City of London Law Society’s Takeovers Working Group. Matthew is recognised as an 'Up and Coming' Partner and Notable Practitioner for Corporate/M&A: 800m+ by Chambers UK 2025, and a Key Lawyer in UK Legal 500 2024 for M&A: Upper Mid-Market and Premium Deals. Matt is lauded for his technical expertise, ability to guide clients through difficult issues, detailed approach and dedication.

David Holdsworth, Partner in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

David is a partner in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group of Paul, Weiss, who advises on take-private and complex private equity and transactions. Some of his sponsor clients have included TDR Capital, Blackstone, Thoma Bravo, I Squared Capital, Advent International and TA Associates. Prior to joining Paul, Weiss, David served as partner and general counsel at TDR Capital, where he was deeply involved in all aspects of the business, developing a unique understanding of the day-to-day operations of a multibillion-dollar asset manager. Prior to this, he was a senior corporate partner in private practice with deep experience in private equity and sponsor backed public M&A. David has been recognized as a leading lawyer in Chambers UK and as 'Highly Regarded' by IFLR1000. 

Jade Jack, Senior Adviser in the Corporate Practice Group, Ashurst LLP

Jade is a Senior Adviser in Ashurst's corporate practice. She is an experienced corporate financier who supports Ashurst's corporate team providing specialist public company advice. Jade has extensive public company offer experience and was seconded to the UK Takeover Panel from 2011 to 2013.

Hyder Jumabhoy, Partner in the Global M&A and Corporate Practice Group, White & Case LLP

Hyder is a partner in White & Case’s global M&A and Corporate practice, based in London. Hyder serves as Global Co-head of the White & Case’s Financial Institutions Industry Group and EMEA Co-head of the firm’s Financial Services M&A practice. He has represented clients on over 100 transactions in the financial services sector, which includes 50 bank M&A transactions. He regularly advises on mergers, acquisitions, non-core disposals, fund raisings, restructurings, JVs and business integrations.

Nicole Kar, Partner and Global Co-Chair of the Antitrust Practice, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Nicole is Global Co-Chair of Paul, Weiss’ Antitrust Practice. She has led on over 40 significant merger and competition investigations in her over 20 years of European competition experience. She has extensive experience in advising on a wide range of regulatory and competition law issues in addition to maintaining a busy investigations and litigation practice. She has expertise in antitrust and regulatory issues spanning tech, financial services, retail, mining and healthcare sectors. Nicole was specialist adviser on foreign investment screening to both the Department for Business and Trade National Security Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the UK Parliament . Nicole is ranked in Tier 1 of Chambers and peers and clients alike hold her in high regard as a top regulatory lawyer. She attracts particular attention for her work on high-profile Phase II domestic merger control investigations. Clients describe her as having ‘her finger on the pulse in terms of what is going on in the competition law world,’ being ‘to the point, really on it and very good with clients’.

Alfred King, Senior Knowledge Lawyer, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Alfred is a senior knowledge lawyer in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group of Paul, Weiss. He supports the firm’s UK Public M&A practice and is a member of the City of London Law Society’s Takeovers Working Group.

Tom Matthews, Partner in the Global M&A and Corporate Practice Group, White & Case LLP

Tom is a Partner in White & Case's global M&A and Corporate practice based in London. Tom is also Head of White & Case’s EMEA Shareholder Activism practice. Tom has over 20 years' experience advising corporates, investment banks, private equity and hedge funds and family offices on international public and private M&A transactions, joint ventures, primary and secondary equity raisings and sell-downs, and listed company advisory and corporate governance matters. Tom also advises a number of companies, activist funds, founder shareholders and other active shareholders on their shareholder engagement campaigns and responses.

Fiona McFarlane, Partner in the International Corporate Group, Bird & Bird LLP

As a partner in Bird & Bird’s London corporate group, Fiona advises clients on public and private M&A, equity capital markets transactions, reorganisations, joint ventures and corporate governance matters. She regularly acts on complex cross-border transactions, advising clients across a broad range of jurisdictions and sectors, including life sciences and healthcare, technology and communications, energy, and media and entertainment. Fiona is also a regular commentator on developments in corporate law, capital markets and M&A, contributing thought leadership and market insights to industry publications and legal media.

Tom Mercer, Partner and Head of Public Company EMEA, Ashurst LLP

Tom is the Head of Public Company EMEA at Ashurst. He advises on a range of M&A, corporate finance and governance matters with particular expertise in public company takeovers and mergers. He was secretary to the UK Takeover Panel from 2011 to 2013 and head of Ashurst's corporate transactions practice in London from 2016 to 2018.

Max Mittasch, Partner, Macfarlanes LLP

Max has a broad corporate practice, with a particular focus on advising on UK public takeovers, and between 2020-2022 he was seconded to the UK Takeover Panel. In addition to his focus on public M&A, Max advises clients on a wide variety of transactions, including equity capital markets, private M&A and group reorganisations. He has experience advising on large and complex work, as well as acting on mid-market mandates, and he operates across a range of sectors. Max has previously undertaken secondments at an investment bank and a leading French law firm.

Lauren O'Brien, Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Lauren is a partner in the Litigation Department and a member of the Antitrust Practice Group. Lauren advises leading global businesses on a wide range of complex and high-impact matters related to antitrust, merger control, foreign direct investment, and consumer law.
Lauren leverages her extensive knowledge of current and emerging regulations, industry best practices, and deep knowledge of the regulatory environment to counsel companies on their most complex large-scale transactional projects and merger reviews. Her clients have included leading public and private companies in the technology, asset management, life sciences, consumer goods and industrial sectors. Lauren is recognized as a Key Lawyer by Legal 500 UK in the EU and Competition Category where clients note she is “very experienced and effective” and “distinguishes herself in running a multi-country approach for her clients.”

Nick O’Donnell, Partner in the International Corporate Group, Bird & Bird LLP

Nick is a Partner in Bird & Bird’s international corporate group, based in London. He has more than 20 years’ experience advising on a range of corporate finance transactions including takeovers, private M&A, joint ventures and equity capital markets, as well as on ESG challenges and opportunities. Nick has previously been based in Abu Dhabi and New York and acts for a broad international mix of US, European and Gulf-based corporates and private equity, as well as FTSE clients. He covers a range of sectors, with a particular focus on technology and consumer. He has spent time on secondment with a range of investment banks and investors including Goldman Sachs, Macquarie and Morgan Stanley. He has been a regular commentator in the media, including on CNBC and in The Financial Times.

Lucy Robson, Partner in the Corporate Finance Team, Addleshaw Goddard LLP

Lucy is a Partner in Addleshaw Goddard's corporate finance team, specialising in public M&A and advising Main Market and AIM listed companies on their key strategic transactions. Lucy acts for a wide range of UK and overseas bidders and targets, as well as financial advisers.

Tom Rose, Partner, Macfarlanes LLP

Tom advises on all aspects of corporate transactions, specialising in complex cross-border M&A. His practice encompasses public and private acquisitions and disposals, carve-outs, private capital, ECM situations and advisory mandates. Tom is recognised in Chambers & Partners and in The Legal 500 for UK premium public and private M&A.

Patrick Sarch, Partner in the Global M&A and Corporate Practice Group and Head of UK Public M&A Practice, White & Case LLP

Patrick is a Partner in White & Case's global M&A and Corporate practice based in London and leads the firm's UK Public M&A practice. He has 30 years' experience advising clients on corporate finance, domestic and cross-border public company M&A transactions (with extensive experience in competitive and hostile situations), innovative structuring, the Takeover Code, disclosure issues, securities law and the UK Listing Rules, as well as secondary issues and capital restructurings. Patrick is also a co-founder of White & Case’s Shareholder Activism practice and advises both companies and activist shareholders on strategic, ESG and M&A-related campaigns, disputes and other corporate governance matters.

Dan Schuster-Woldan, Partner and Head of European Public M&A, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Dan is a partner in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group of Paul, Weiss and head of its European Public M&A practice. Dan advises on a variety of public and private M&A and equity capital market transactions, including carveouts, spin-offs, joint ventures, IPOs, secondary capital raises and corporate restructurings. Dan has extensive cross-border transaction expertise, advising both corporate and private equity clients on projects across Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa. Dan’s strategic approach and deep industry knowledge, particularly in the insurance and wider financial services sectors, make him a trusted advisor to clients undertaking their most critical and challenging transactions. He is recognized by Chambers UK in Insurance: Non-contentious and The Legal 500 UK as a Leading Individual for M&A: Upper Mid-Market and Premium Deals and Insurance: Corporate and Regulatory.

Daniel Simons, Senior Partner in the Corporate & Finance Practice, Hogan Lovells

Daniel is a Senior Partner in the London Corporate & Finance practice at Hogan Lovells and was recently named in The Lawyer’s 'Hot 100' list of top lawyers working in the UK. He focuses his practice on corporate finance transactions, in particular on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets. Daniel also has particular focus on public M&A transactions, including P2Ps, and he has advised numerous companies, private equity houses and financial institutions in the context of these transactions.

Francesca Storey-Harris, Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

A partner in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group, Francesca has extensive experience across a wide range of corporate transactions for financial sponsors and strategic clients. She has advised on public and private M&A, capital markets transactions and cross-border deals for some of the industry’s leading financial sponsors, including Blackstone, EQT, Thoma Bravo, Brookfield and GIC, and for FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 public companies, including Signature Aviation, DS Smith, Arsenal Football Club, Cineworld, FirstGroup, RSA Insurance and Direct Line.

Sonica Tolani, Partner in the Global M&A and Corporate Practice Group, White & Case LLP

Sonica is a Partner in White & Case’s global M&A and Corporate practice based in London. Sonica has extensive experience in advising corporate clients, private equity, hedge funds and investment banks on international public M&A transactions, primary and secondary equity raisings and sell-downs, and listed company advisory and corporate governance matters. Sonica has particular expertise in UK Public M&A transactions.

Simon Wood, Partner in the Corporate Finance Team, Addleshaw Goddard LLP

Simon is a corporate finance Partner at Addleshaw Goddard and advises listed companies on the full range of corporate finance transactions. He has particular expertise in public M&A, having previously spent a two-year secondment as Secretary to the Takeover Panel.