England - London • Corporate and commercial
Paul Hastings LLP
Praised by clients as being ‘excellent on the legal detail, but also strong on commercial perspective’, the ’ultra-responsive’ team at Paul Hastings LLP adopts a ‘highly commercial approach’ and offers ’deep sector specific expertise’ and the ability to lead on complex and high-end transactions. Increasingly active on public M&A deals following a period of expansion, the team is also well-versed in private M&A on behalf of trade, strategic and private equity buyers and joint ventures. Noted as ‘the best commercial and corporate lawyer’ by one client, team head Matthew Poxon has ’an encyclopaedic knowledge of black letter law.’ Joint-head with Poxon is hihgly regarded former Linklaters LLP partner, Jessamy Gallagher, who joined in January 2023 and specialises in international public and private M&A in the real assets, infrastructure and energy space. With a particular focus on UAE-based institutions and handling transformational public and private M&A transactions is David Prowse . Other changes at the firm include the departure of Garrett Hayes to McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP, the exit of former global co-managing partner Ronan O’Sullivan and the departure of infrastructure-focused Steven Bryan.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The Paul Hastings team takes a highly commercial approach to deals. Their deep sector specific expertise enables them to cut through the most complex legal matters quickly allowing for expedient and efficient deployment of resources. The team is extremely available, meaning that turnaround is quick and highly reactive to what can often be highly fluid circumstances.’
‘Matthew Poxon is extremely knowledgeable, with deep sector specific expertise. What differentiates him from competitors is his commercial acumen, which enables his clients to quickly and efficiently drive to tangible action. Matthew is extremely available which allows for a highly reactive response to what can often be a highly fluid environment.’
‘Very strong in large complex cross-border corporate transactions, including M&A, investments and joint ventures.’
‘David Prowse is a stand-out partner for us. He knows our business very well and always provides sensible, tailored and commercial-orientated advice. He is always available whenever you need him and highly responsive.’
‘This team are always quick to respond with sound and always very commercial advice. I have never dealt with a firm that is both excellent on the legal detail, but also strong on commercial perspective.’
‘Matthew Poxon is the best commercial and corporate lawyer I have ever dealt with. He is incredibly sharp on legal detail, but he is especially stand out on commercial rationale and thinking.’
‘The general quality of the individual lawyers is exceptional. The team of lawyers stand out for their capabilities, creativity and ability to think outside of the box.’
‘The team are always ultra-responsive and always go the extra mile to provide the highest quality client service. They have a deep industry knowledge and over the last couple of years have really developed their bench strength such that no matter who works on the transaction, the level of advice and support doesn't dip. They always manage to quickly understand the task at hand and identify what the key issues are that matter to us as a client.’
‘Matthew Poxon has been our most trusted legal adviser for the last few years. He is highly commercial, he also has an encyclopaedic knowledge of black letter law, which is invaluable for a firm that often needs real time advice on critical and incredibly time sensitive issues. He has developed a very strong team of associates to support his practice, most noticeably Rohin Ghosh Dastidar. Rohin is incredibly responsive and is also very proactive, pre-empting issues before they arise and providing solutions, and can always be entrusted to carry out the more administrative tasks efficiently and accurately, which is an invaluable support.’
Key clients
- City Football Group
- PineBridge Benson Elliot
- Group 42
- Symphony Technology Group
- Cipriani Holdings
- Heritage Group
- Abercrombie & Kent
- International Holding Company
- Centerbridge
- OpCapita
- Basecamp
- The Office Group
Work highlights
- Advised on the acquisition by Symphony Technology Group, a California-based private equity firm, of the commodities business of Brady Technologies Group, a global trading, risk and logistics software provider for the energy sector.
- Advised on the investment by G42 Investments AI Holding limited in NASDAQ-listed vTv Therapeutics Inc involving the acquisition of Class A Common Stock in vTv.
- Advised Theta Bidco Limited, a newly-incorporated company owned by International Holding Company and Tasheel, on its acquisition of Arena Events Group plc by way of scheme of arrangement.
Lawyers
Leading individuals
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Matthew Poxon, Jessamy Gallagher