About

Provided by Linklaters

Linklaters fields one of the most experienced and highly regarded corporate teams in London.

The number and variety of deals on which the group has advised provides it with an invaluable pool of experience. Renowned for its capacity to deal with the most complex domestic transactions, the team covers the full spectrum of corporate work.

Over the last 12 months Linklaters M&A practice has advised the market's most significant and complex deals including on:

  • Advising 26 of the FTSE100, including 8 of the top 10 by market cap.
  • 9 of the world’s top 10 investment banks (by all fees) on their corporate transactions.
  • Linklaters ranked no. 1 for public M&A (where firm offers announced in 2022 and firm offers completed in 2022). We had bidder or target adviser roles on 7 deals valued at £7.745bn.
  • In line with market trends, we’ve seen an increased number of carve-out transactions - in 2022 we ranked number one for carve-out deals in the UK advising on 22 deals including 5 of the top 10 UK carve-outs and 2 of the top 4 European cross-border carve-outs.

We have the largest corporate team in the City bringing a breadth of expertise which means that we can combine teams with a strong sector focus (covering financial services, institutional investors, energy and natural resources, consumer, real estate, TMT, industrials and healthcare) with all-round strong product experience across public and private M&A/PE, corporate governance and board-level advice.

Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers
Corporate/M&A: £800 million and above - London (Firms)
1
Band 1
What the Team is Known For

Linklaters maintains a highly sophisticated corporate practice that enjoys an outstanding reputation for complex M&A work. It consistently acts on landmark cross-border deals, servicing industry-leading clients from the energy, healthcare and TMT sectors, among numerous others. Its clients also benefit from a market-leading borrower-side finance practice that can assist with high-value deal work. Linklaters' extensive international footprint covers Europe, the Americas and Asia.

Work Highlights

Provided by Linklaters
  • Linklaters advised Thermo Fisher Scientific on its £2.25 billion acquisition of The Binding Site Group, a life sciences company.

Strengths

Provided by Chambers

Notable Practitioners

Provided by Chambers
E
Aedamar Comiskey
E
Eminent Practitioners

Aedamar Comiskey receives plaudits from across the market for the strength of her practice in high-end public and private M&A. She chairs the firm's partnership board.

"Aedamar demonstrates a personal commitment to diversity and inclusion, and this is reflected in the team and how they operate."

1
Richard Spedding
1
Band 1

Richard Spedding impresses sources from across the market with his top-quality corporate practice. He regularly advises on sophisticated domestic and cross-border M&A and corporate finance matters, and is particularly strong in the provision of Takeover Code advice.

"Richard possesses very good knowledge on the broader take-private environment and is helpful with the takeover panel. He is also responsive and reactive."

"Richard is a very high-quality practitioner."

"He is very professional and good to work with."

3
Iain Fenn
3
Band 3

Iain Fenn has a wealth of experience in public and private M&A on behalf of a client base of household-name companies. He also offers high-level strategic advice.

"Iain is a quality operator."

"He would be my go-to for the most serious or sensitive pieces of corporate work. Iain shows a pragmatic balance between legal and commercial priorities."

4
Simon Branigan
4
Band 4

Simon Branigan maintains a strong corporate practice that is active on domestic and cross-border M&A. He advises corporates and financial institutions on transactions across a variety of sectors. He serves as the head of the firm's global corporate group.

"Simon always supports and he makes things work for us."

"Simon is excellent. He is incredibly responsive, highly collaborative and really good to work with."

5
Derek Tong
5
Band 5

Derek Tong is the firm's global head of the technology sector. He impresses due to his strong track record advising well-known corporates on cross-border, transformational M&A.

"Derek is a genius on the M&A side and he understands financial concepts and how they impact businesses. He is wonderful."

5
James Inglis
5
Band 5

James Inglis exhibits strength advising multinational corporations on public and private M&A transactions. He is particularly adept at assisting Asia-based clients on significant deals.

"James inspires complete confidence. He is always on hand to advise with a thoughtful, pragmatic perspective, taking into account our history and structure."

"James Inglis is very knowledgeable on public market takeovers. He knows the rulebook inside and out and is aware of the client and what their drivers are."

"He is technically very good."

Ranked Lawyers at
Linklaters

Provided by Chambers
Filter by
Band

London (Firms)

Corporate/M&A: £100-800 million

1
Richard Spedding
1
Band 1
Corporate/M&A: £800 million and above

E
Aedamar Comiskey
E
Eminent Practitioners
3
Iain Fenn
3
Band 3
4
Simon Branigan
4
Band 4
5
Derek Tong
5
Band 5
5
James Inglis
5
Band 5

Members

Provided by Linklaters

Aisling Zarraga

Dan Schuster-Woldan

Simon Branigan

Head of Department

Tracey Lochhead

Clients

Provided by Linklaters

AXA S.A.

Advent International Corporation

Capita plc

Dialog Semiconductor PLC

ION Investment Group Limited

Intu Properties plc

J Sainsbury plc

Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited

National Grid plc

ORIX Corporation

Old Mutual

SIX Group AG

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd

UBM plc

Unilever plc

Industries

Provided by Linklaters

Automotive

Banks

Chemicals

Energy

Financial Services

Food and Beverage

Healthcare

Insurance

Mining

Real Estate

Retail

Tech

Telecommunications