Mark Austin > Latham & Watkins > London, England > Lawyer Profile
Latham & Watkins Offices
99 BISHOPSGATE
LONDON
EC2M 3XF
England
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Mark Austin

Position
Mark Austin advises clients on a full range of public and private securities offerings as well as M&A and general corporate matters across multiple sectors.
He leverages extensive experience to guide market-leading companies and investment banks on:
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- Initial public offerings (IPOs)
- Rights issues and open offers
- Placings
- Mergers and acquisitions
- General corporate work
A recognized industry leader, Mark is a member and former Chair of the Listing Authority Advisory Panel, the practitioner panel that advises the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on primary markets policy and regulation issues. He also serves on the FCA’s Markets Practitioner Panel and The London Stock Exchange’s Primary Markets Group.
He is a member of the UK’s Capital Markets Industry Taskforce (CMIT), which was announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in July 2022, and which is tasked with reforming the UK’s capital markets, as well as HM Treasury’s Digitization Taskforce.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer appointed Mark in October 2021 as the independent chair of the UK Secondary Capital Raising Review, which proposed reforms to the capital raising process for listed companies. He delivered the Review to the Chancellor in July 2022. He also advised Lord Hill on the UK Listing Review in 2021. He received a CBE in the King’s 2024 New Year Honours List for services to the economy.
Lawyer Rankings
London > Corporate and commercial > Equity capital markets – mid-large cap
(Hall of Fame)Latham & Watkins’ ECM team excels at handling cross-border work, with a strong and consistent record of advising large corporates as well as major banks such as JP Morgan on global IPOs and secondary placings, reverse takeovers, and demerger transactions. The London team regularly collaborates with the firm’s international partners to guide clients through listings on the LSE, NYSE, and European exchanges, and it is particularly well-regarded for its work with IPO candidates in the tech and renewable energy sectors. Banking clients furthermore benefit from the team’s ability to offer integrated advice on transactional and financial regulatory issues. James Inness regularly advises on London IPOs and co-heads the team with US securities and M&A expert Mark Austin
, who joined the firm from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP in June 2023. Further key contacts include Chris Horton
, who is well-regarded for his expertise in public M&A and SPAC transactions, and Anna Ngo, who handles a varied caseload of primary and secondary offerings.
Lawyer Rankings
- Equity capital markets – mid-large cap London > Corporate and commercial
- Hall of Fame London > Corporate and commercial > Equity capital markets – mid-large cap
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Dispute resolution > Banking litigation: investment and retail
- Finance > Corporate restructuring & insolvency
- Real estate > Environment
- Corporate and commercial > Equity capital markets – mid-large cap
- Risk advisory > ESG
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Fintech: corporate and commercial
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Fintech: regulatory
- Finance > High yield
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Infrastructure: M&A and acquisition financing
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Infrastructure: Project finance and development
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > IT and telecoms
- Crime, fraud and licensing > Fraud: white-collar crime (advice to individuals)
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Oil and gas
- Corporate and commercial > Private equity: transactions – high-value deals (£500m+)
- Industry focus > TMT
Firm Rankings
- Corporate and commercial > Corporate tax
- Risk advisory > Data protection, privacy and cybersecurity
- Finance > Debt capital markets
- Finance > Debt capital markets
- Employment > Employee share schemes
- Corporate and commercial > EU and competition
- Corporate and commercial > Financial services: non-contentious/regulatory
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Corporate and commercial > M&A: Upper Mid-Market And Premium Deals, £750m+
- Investment fund formation and management > Private funds
- Dispute resolution > Public international law
- Finance > Securitisation
- Corporate and commercial > Venture capital
- Finance > Bank lending: investment grade debt and syndicated loans
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: premium
- Dispute resolution > Competition litigation
- Finance > Derivatives and structured products
- Corporate and commercial > Financial services: contentious
- Insurance > Insurance: corporate and regulatory
- Industry focus > Life sciences and healthcare
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Media: Film & TV
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Media: Media finance
- Real estate > Property finance
- Risk advisory > Regulatory investigations and corporate crime (advice to corporates)
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Sport
- Investment fund formation and management > Fund finance
- Investment fund formation and management > Real estate funds
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Renewables
- Finance > Acquisition finance