Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (UK) LLP

London office head: Richard Youle

Skadden’s London office advises on M&A, capital markets, private equity, banking and finance, corporate restructuring, investment management, tax, insurance, government enforcement and white collar crime, international litigation and arbitration, EU competition, financial regulatory, employment, and IP, IT, data protection and cybersecurity.

Since opening our London office in 1988, Skadden has established itself as a major player in the London legal market.

The firm offers a fully integrated UK, European and US practice operating from our London base and composed of some of London’s top-ranked lawyers.

Our clients, which we counsel on cross-border European and global matters, include major corporates, financial institutions and governments. Skadden’s global platform allows our lawyers in London to quickly marshall relevant experience across practices and offices.

Mergers and acquisitions: Skadden has one of the leading M&A practices in the world. For more than 20 years, we have developed a top mergers and acquisitions capability in Europe with a focus on complex, cross-border transactions. We have significant and unique experience in structuring and executing challenging transactions throughout our network of European offices. In London, we have an established first-tier capability in Takeover Code regulated transactions and have a fully established non-public and private equity transactions practice. We offer significant advantages in managing complex cross-border issues and the demands of multiple legal and regulatory regimes.

We develop strategies for execution of our mandates drawing on the wealth of experience of a close knit and complementary group of European and US practitioners to utilise practices and developments from the world of M&A, sensitive to the local environment in which the acquisition entities are established.

Private equity: Skadden advises private equity firms on the structuring and execution of large, cross-border and domestic private equity transactions, including the purchase and sale of portfolio companies. Our European private equity real estate team also advises on issues on behalf of clients involved in real estate, real estate investment, real estate finance and other real estate-related sectors. We are one of the only firms in London able to successfully provide a combined European and US private equity real estate offering. The firm combines this leading transactional experience with sophisticated financing and tax techniques in relation to a range of matters, including leveraged buyouts, management buyouts and recapitalisations.

Capital markets: Our fully integrated UK and US capital markets practice advises corporate, investment banking and governmental clients. We act on a variety of capital markets transactions, including initial public offerings, rights offerings, investment-grade and high-yield financings, private placements, offerings of regulatory capital and other hybrid securities, and other global equity and debt offerings. We advise clients in the UK and in nearly every country in Europe as well as in the Middle East, Africa and the CIS, providing transactional and compliance advice in connection with securities offerings under the UK and EU Prospectus Regulations, US Rule 144A and Regulation S, and listings on the London Stock Exchange, US stock exchanges and major European exchanges. We have a broad sector focus and have advised clients in a number of industries, including technology, fintech, pharmaceuticals, defence, energy, mining, telecommunications, retail and financial services, among others.

Banking: The UK banking group comprises experienced finance lawyers familiar with all aspects of acquisition finance, high-yield and private placements, project and real estate finance, general corporate lending and restructuring. The team represents a wide range of lenders and borrowers/sponsors in some of the largest and most complex financing transactions worldwide. The group is regularly engaged in the development of new financing techniques as well as more traditional approaches. Skadden’s multijurisdictional teams enable us to handle everything from mid-market unitranche financings to the world’s largest acquisition financings.

White-collar crime and corporate investigations: Skadden’s European white collar crime and corporate investigations represents corporations and individuals involved in cross-border regulatory investigations and disputes. The practice combines its presence in Europe with Skadden’s deep experience in government investigations, enforcement actions and internal investigations. The firm defends corporations, directors, officers and employees against allegations in various business contexts and at every stage of the investigation and enforcement process. We have resolved a number of complex parallel proceedings involving criminal, civil and administrative components in multiple jurisdictions, in a wide variety of subject areas.

The firm regularly provides guidance on corporate issues, and advises clients regarding the establishment and implementation of business ethics compliance programmes. We frequently counsel on compliance concerns, including those related to anti-corruption/Foreign Corrupt Practices Act issues, anti-money laundering issues, and trade sanctions and export control issues.

International arbitration and litigation: Skadden’s European litigation and arbitration practice is based in our London office and works closely with Skadden’s attorneys around the world. We are known for our ability to win some of the most complex cases on behalf of our clients, in court proceedings and arbitration. Our lawyers undertake multijurisdictional litigation and international arbitrations, including commercial and investment treaty arbitrations under the auspices of leading arbitral institutions. We conduct cases under the ICSID, ICC, LCIA, HKIAC and UNCITRAL rules, among others. Our practice is to use small, dedicated teams of lawyers for each case to provide a streamlined and cost-efficient service. Unlike many London firms, we do not need to hire external barristers to act as advocates in international arbitration, as we have the relevant experience within our arbitration practice. We also have solicitor-advocates with rights of audience before the High Court of England and Wales.

Tax: We are one of the few international law firms to provide a combined offering of both domestic and cross-border tax advice within the major European jurisdictions, working together as one team on cross-border matters. Our work focuses on tax advice in connection with M&A and private capital transactions, and we also are leaders for complex tax advice in relation to the real estate sector, and on behalf of high-net-worth individuals.

Tax controversy and investigations: Skadden’s UK tax controversy and investigations practice combines the skills of experienced English-qualified tax practitioners and dispute resolution lawyers. The group provides its clients with tactical and technical advice to ensure that tax disputes and investigations are resolved as effectively as possible through various methods such as negotiation, expert determination or a hearing before the tribunals or the courts.

Insurance: Skadden represents insurance and reinsurance companies and their financial advisors and underwriters in a wide variety of corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, public and private financings, restructurings and reorganisations. Our team also provides a broad range of regulatory advice to insurance and reinsurance companies, routinely advising on insurance law issues, including authorisations, regulatory capital issues, securities issuances, investments, solvency, permissible activities and insurance products. We also have assisted insurance sector clients in undertaking all types of corporate reorganisations and restructurings.

Corporate restructuring: The European corporate restructuring practice is headquartered in London and works in conjunction with Skadden lawyers throughout the world. We regularly advise European enterprises in cross-border, out-of-court restructurings and prenegotiated plans of reorganisation, as well as in judicial, insolvency restructuring transactions and bankruptcy proceedings. Our lawyers have participated in many of the most complex restructuring transactions and insolvency-related proceedings of the last decade and have been instrumental in the development of sophisticated, innovative strategies that also draw on the firm’s rich background in mergers, acquisitions and corporate financing transactions. The firm also advises on insolvency issues in corporate transactions and in connection with litigation-related matters.

Investment management: Skadden’s European investment management group, based in London, is a multidisciplinary team, servicing a wide range of private capital and asset management clients, including: private equity fund houses; hedge fund managers; high-net-worth investors; in-house asset management teams at financial institutions; family offices; SIVs, ABCPs and other “shadow banks”; private trading companies; and sovereign investors. Our core experience lies in structuring, establishing and operating a wide variety of pooled capital enterprises, such as general private equity funds, real estate funds, infrastructure funds, investment clubs and managed accounts. We have a wide network of correspondent funds, regulatory and tax lawyers in all leading funds jurisdictions.

IP, IT, data protection and cybersecurity: Skadden’s London-based practice advises international clients across various industries on IP, IT, data protection and cybersecurity matters. Our lawyers possess the legal and technical knowledge needed to stay consistently ahead of the curve on emerging issues in the sector. We understand that IT, data protection and cybersecurity are now at the heart of most corporate transactions and investigations, and experience in these areas forms an important nexus around which other areas of law are oriented. We assist at every stage of the matter to ensure compliance with applicable privacy, data protection and cybersecurity legal and regulatory frameworks. Our attorneys are often able to anticipate the challenges before they arise, enabling our clients to enact an approach of privacy-by-design on any project.

European Union/international competition: Skadden’s European Union/international competition practice focuses on four principal areas under EU and other non-US antitrust laws: merger control, cartels, abuses of dominant positions and other antitrust issues (eg, vertical licensing/distribution arrangements and state aid issues). We offer multinational clients highly integrated, proactive and cost-effective legal strategies that are customised to deal with the increasingly sophisticated and closely coordinated enforcement actions adopted by European and other non-US antitrust authorities in both transactional and non-transactional matters. EU and international competition matters are primarily handled by the Brussels office.

Employment: Skadden’s employment practice in London has extensive experience advising on corporate transactions, including how deal structures may be impacted by employment law and on the mitigation of commercial risks, including post-merger integration and consultation requirements. Skadden advises clients on international employment matters. We handle cross-border employment, employee benefits, compensation and pension-related issues in mergers, acquisitions and joint venture transactions involving multinational parties, including issues relating to employee transfers and works council consultations.

Energy: Drawing on the experience of the firm’s energy, corporate, banking and tax practices, the European energy practice provides comprehensive assistance on complex energy transactions. We represent clients in a broad array of energy matters, including petroleum exploration; production and infrastructure investments; utility and petrochemical sector privatisations; large-scale power plant, pipeline and refinery developments; mergers, acquisitions and corporate financings involving energy companies; and non- or limited-recourse financings for capital-intensive energy projects.