Geoffrey Burgess > Debevoise & Plimpton LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

With a particular focus on the financial services sector, the India group at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP acts for international investment banks, global and regional private equity firms and financial institutions. The team is now jointly led by Geoffrey Burgess and Lord Peter Goldsmith KC, both based in London, following the 2023 departure of former co-head William Chua.

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP has a broad focus on emerging markets from London, where partners act on matters in Africa, Eastern Europe, Russia and the CIS, and, increasingly, in Latin America. The work spans investments, M&A, projects, disputes and joint ventures for major financial institutions, private equity firms, international strategic investors, governments, energy and natural resources companies, telecommunications companies and African corporates. Geoffrey Burgess, who is ‘an exceptional lawyer, very pragmatic, very commercial‘, is active in M&A in Africa, where Patrick Taylor is a key name in commercial and investment treaty arbitration. Chair of European and Asian litigation Lord Peter Goldsmith KC is also recommended. Goldsmith KC acted for an oil major in its largest ever litigation, which concerned alleged oil spills in the Niger Delta. Alan Kartashkin has in-depth experience of the Russian market. International counsel Vera Losonci is recommended for equity and debt offerings.

Sitting within the firm’s wider European platform, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP‘s London team handles multijurisdictional M&A for a range of financial sponsors and investors, with a particular focus on emerging markets. Katherine Ashton, who leads the private fund transactions group, is well-equipped to advise on M&A, secondaries, fund restructurings and recapitalisations. The US-qualified (New York) E Raman Bet-Mansour co-leads the team, supporting private equity groups and their portfolio companies across a range of domestic and cross-border transactions – particularly those involving European markets. Co-head Dominic Blaxill oversees public and private M&A, capital raises, and corporate advisory instructions, while co-head Geoffrey Burgess brings financing and venture capital capabilities to the fore on a series of mandates.