Mark is a corporate partner with particular expertise in public takeovers and cross-border M&A.
Mark is a corporate partner, specialising in cross-border M&A with a focus on UK public M&A. He has been at the firm for over 25 years and a partner since 2009. He has helped clients to close more than US$350 billion worth of transactions across the US, UK, Europe, CIS, Middle East, Africa, India, Asia and Australia.
He focuses on advising corporate clients and works with boards on both transactional and advisory work. He is frequently involved in advising on significant challenges that face boards whether on transactions, shareholder activism, governance issues or regulatory investigations. In addition, he regularly works with and advises investment banks and corporate finance advisers in connection with their roles on major cross-border transactions.
He is individually ranked in Chambers and recommended in Legal 500 for M&A premium deals and noted for his public takeover expertise. He is a General Editor of Butterworths Takeovers Law and Practice (second edition 2015) and a contributor to other leading practitioner's texts on topics including shareholder activism, market abuse, schemes of arrangement and takeovers. He lectures annually at Cambridge University to postgraduate MCL students as part of the Deals Course, on public M&A.
In September 2011, he completed a two-year secondment as Secretary to the UK’s Takeover Panel. During that time he was closely involved in the day-to-day regulation of UK public takeovers and also in significant revisions to the UK's Takeover Code. He continues to be actively involved in consultations regarding amendments to the UK's Takeover Code. He also acts as Secretary to the Takeover Appeals Board in relation to various appeals.
Background
Mark holds an MA Cantab (Hons) Law from Fitzwilliam College Cambridge. Qualified as a barrister. Called to the Bar 1998.
Experience & expertise
Selected matters
- Wincanton plc on the recommended £960 million all cash takeover by U.S. listed GXO Logistics, Inc and competing bid from French ports operator CMA CGM in 2024
- Kestrel Partners, the largest shareholder in AIM listed tech business IQGeo, in relation to the £333m recommended take-private of IQGeo by funds advised by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. and its affiliates and its rollover into the bid vehicle in 2024
- PJT Partners as a financial adviser to TowerBrook Capital and J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC in relation to the cash confirmation process on the consortium’s £283 million recommended cash offer for Equals Group plc and simultaneous private acquisition of Railsr in 2024
- Patrick Drahi's telecoms investment group, Altice, on the acquisition of its 24.5% stake in BT Group plc (market cap >£15bn), including in response to the UK Government's intervention in 2022 under the NSI Act 2022, and subsequent disposal of the entire stake to Bharti Televentures UK in 2024
- CHP the controlling shareholder of Alfa Financial Software in relation to takeover proposals valuing the company in excess of £600m from funds advised by EQT and separately Thomas H Lee in 2023
- a consortium led by Elliott and Brookfield on the US$16 billion leveraged buy out of Nielsen Holdings plc by means of a UK scheme of arrangement in 2022
- MGM Resorts International on its c.US$11 billion possible offer for Entain plc in 2021
- Sky on the competing takeover situation involving 21st Century Fox, Disney and Comcast Corporation, culminating in a public auction and Comcast’s successful bid of £30 billion, for which the HSF team won M&A Team of the Year (Large Deal) at the British Legal Awards in 2018
- Arris Group on its US$2 billion takeover of Pace in 2016
- advising Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley in their capacity as financial advisers and lenders to XL Group on its proposed US$4.1 billion acquisition of Catlin Group in 2015
- Cable & Wireless Worldwide in response to unsolicited approaches from Vodafone and Tata Communications leading to Vodafone's £1 billion recommended bid in 2012
- EdF on its £12.5 billion takeover of British Energy Group including the issue of the innovative CVRs, the Nuclear Power Notes, as consideration, and negotiations between the UK and French Governments in relation to the deal, in 2008
- Tata Steel on its successful £6.2 billion acquisition of Corus, following the competitive auction with CSN in 2007
- BTG the largest investment bank in Latin America, on the consolidation of its 50% interest in Prime Oil & Gas with its joint venture partner Africa Oil Corp, a Canadian oil and gas company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and Swedish Stock Exchange, 2025
- Elliott Advisors (UK) Limited on its sale of Gardant S.p.A to Italian listed doValue S.p,A for cash and share consideration, and its participation in doValue’s rights issue, for a total aggregate value of €460 million, 2024
- Paraline Group, a Bermuda based investor, on the sale of its interest in Beat Capital Partners, a London-based venture capital investor focused on insurance, to Ambac Financial Group, a NYSE-listed insurer, alongside the majority investors – Bain Capital and management – for approximately US$300m. The deal was conditional upon insurance-related regulatory approval from insurance bodies in the UK, Texas and Bermuda and closed in 2024
- GIC on its > €1 billion investment and participation as a cornerstone investor in simultaneous capital raises by Energias de Portugal S.A. (EDP) and its listed subsidiary EDP Renováveis, S.A. (“EDPR”), through a "PIPE" style arrangement in 2023
- Mercuria in relation to the sale of Tailwind Energy Investments Ltd to Serica Energy plc for cash and share consideration of £367 million. Mercuria, Tailwind’s largest shareholder and one of the world's largest energy traders, became a strategic investor in Serica with a 25.2% holding, 2023
- Atlassian (NASDAQ: TEAM, cap >$50bn) on its re-domiciliation and domestication to the U.S., by means of a UK court sanctioned scheme of arrangement, in 2022, its previous re-domiciliation from Australia to the U.K. and a variety of other matters
- Virgin Group on its announced disposal of a 31% stake in Virgin Atlantic to Air France-KLM for £220 million and the resulting three-party joint venture between them and Delta Air Lines in 2019
- Sky on a variety of matters including the £800 million sale of its controlling stake in its betting and gaming business, Sky Bet, to funds advised by CVC Capital Partners in 2014 and ongoing joint venture and other commercial arrangements, and on the subsequent sale of Sky Bet to Canadian listed Stars Group in 2018
- Shaanxi Ligeance Mineral Resources on:
- its £326 million acquisition of Gardner Aerospace from funds managed by Better Capital in 2018
- the subsequent acquisition of Northern Aerospace, successfully concluding the transaction after the UK Government exercised its new extended powers, for the first time to intervene on the transaction in 2018
- Wesfarmers on its acquisition of the Homebase business from Home Retail Group in 2016 and subsequent sale of Homebase to Hilco in 2018
- Strutt & Parker LLP on the sale of its entire business to BNP Paribas Real Estate in 2017
- EPIC on the sale of Moto, the UK's leader in motorway service areas, to the Universities Superannuation Schemes in 2015
Sectors
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