England - London • Corporate and commercial
Herbert Smith Freehills LLP
Herbert Smith Freehills LLP is regarded as a ‘safe set of hands for any complex ECM transaction’. The ’pragmatic and forward thinking team’ is well-known for its broad service offering that encompasses IPOs and secondary offerings across major stock exchanges, as well as its capabilities in SPAC and de-SPAC transactions and the emerging PIPE market. Head of US securities Tom O’Neill, who co-chairs the team, is a go-to name for corporate finance and securities offerings. Fellow co-head Michael Jacobs specialises in ECM, growth capital and M&A, with a focus on private equity, financial institutions and fintech-driven work. Dinesh Banani advises on IPOs, rights issues and secondary share placings, as well as debt capital markets transactions including bond offerings and structured financings. Other names to note include Sarah Ries-Coward, who is lauded as ‘consistently excellent in all respects’, and Thomas Vaughan - noted for his capabilities across the energy, oil & gas, real estate, and financial services sectors.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The HSF team are a safe set of hands for any complex ECM transaction; they are responsive and manage large transactions efficiently. There is a good depth in the practice including a number of experienced senior associates and counsel.’
‘Sarah Ries-Coward provides great service and executes large complex transactions well.'
'Where complex issues have arisen we have found HSF to have been pragmatic and forward-thinking, while also not being against the exploration of more unique structures where suitable.’
‘Very competent with a very strong understanding of the rules. This is particularly notable in the associate and senior associate pools where we have found a level of expertise usually reserved for partners at other firms. I would, in particular, highlight Sarah Ries-Coward who we have worked with on three transactions over the last year and has been consistently excellent in all respects.’
Key clients
- Acacia Research Corporation
- Bank of America Merrill Lynch
- Barclays
- BNP Paribas
- Certares Opportunities
- Citigroup
- Credit Suisse
- Deutsche Bank
- Disruptive Capital Acquisition Company Limited
- easyJet
- Genus
- GIC
- Goldman Sachs
- Hammerson
- Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited
- HSBC
- Jefferies
- Jet2
- JP Morgan
- Keefe, Bruyette & Woods
- Lazard
- learnd
- Made.com Group
- Marex Group
- Marble Point Loan Financing Limited
- Moelis
- Morgan Stanley
- New Energy One Acquisition Corporation
- Numis
- OneWeb
- PensionBee
- Rothschild
- RBC Capital Markets
- RTW Venture Fund Limited
- Saga plc
- SCA Investments Limited (t/a Gousto)
- Severn Trent plc
- Synthomer plc
- Tryg A/S
- WH Smith PLC
- UBS
Work highlights
- Advised New Energy One Acquisition Corporation, sponsored by LiveStream LLC and Italian-listed energy company Eni International B.V., on its £175 million SPAC listing on the London Stock Exchange.
- Acted on both the IPO on Euronext Amsterdam of Disruptive Capital Acquisition Company ("DCAC"), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) incorporated in Guernsey, and thereafter on its proposed business combination/de-SPAC with Saxo Bank A/S ("Saxo"), a leading global digital trading and investment platform.
- Advised Citigroup, as the sole global coordinator and bookrunner, on the US$125 million SPAC listing on the London Stock Exchange of ACG Acquisition Company Limited ("ACG").
Lawyers
Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Rising stars
Leading individuals
Next Generation Partners
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Tom O'Neill, Michael Jacobs