About

Qualifying in 2001, Dean Sheehan specialised in M&A and corporate finance in private practice within the UK, and achieved partner level only six years later in 2007, an early indication of the consistently high level of performance he would ultimately bring to all his roles. He moved to Dubai – and in-house legal work – in 2010, joining PepsiCo in 2012 as senior legal director; he assumed his current position as vice president and general counsel for the Middle East and Africa in 2015. ‘I am privileged to lead a diverse legal team of 20 lawyers from eleven countries, 70% of whom are women. PepsiCo fully supports us in ensuring that the legal team really does have a seat at the table, playing a key role in business and strategic decision making, which makes my role here all the more enjoyable and rewarding’. He has also had the opportunity to bring his M&A expertise in-house by leading a number of major transactions: ‘I have been project leader, including non-legal aspects, of M&A transactions with a combined value of more than US$1bn. Overall, I am extremely lucky to have found a work environment that has empowered me to enhance my business knowledge, management skills and strategic acumen’, sums up Sheehan.