London

O’Melveny’s London* office provides legal services to a diverse group of prominent private equity houses, financial institutions and corporate clients. With the vast majority of lawyers English-qualified, the London office advises on cross-border English law matters, working closely with the Firm’s international network to provide a seamless global service. Clients include Apollo Management LP, Actis Capital, Coller Capital and the Government of Singapore’s private equity vehicle―GIC Special Investments Pte Ltd (GIC).

TRANSACTIONS DEPARTMENT

Mergers and Acquisitions and Private Equity. Our London team represents private equity funds, investment banks, and public and private companies in acquisitions, divestitures, joint venture transactions, and related corporate governance matters and is experienced in private and public transactions, including consortium deals and hybrid financing structures. For example, we recently represented a syndicate including Coller Capital, HarbourVest, and DFJ Esprit LLP, in the acquisition of the healthcare and technology venture capital portfolio owned by 3i Group Plc and its subsidiary and affiliate entities. We also recently represented Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in its participation in a consortium that agreed to acquire Internet telephony company Skype from Internet giant eBay for US$2.75 billion.

Investment Funds. O’Melveny’s global Investment Funds practice advises clients on fund formation, carried interest and co-investment structures, spinout of private equity managers, fund and asset securities, fund and asset secondaries, buyouts, international venture capital, as well as portfolio company M&A and IPOs. Recent deals place the London office at the forefront of market trends including the investment in climate change technology and the growth of the emerging markets. Recently, we advised Actis on its successful US$2.9 billion fund raise for Actis Emerging Markets 3―one of the largest private equity funds raised for the emerging markets.

Corporate Finance. Our clients engage us regularly to structure and negotiate complex financings in both Europe and the US. Our experience includes senior secured, second lien, mezzanine and subordinated loans, cross border and offshore transactions, high-yield bridges and bond offerings, asset-based financings, structured finance transactions, project financings, Sharia-compliant financings, investment grade transactions and DIP and other financial restructuring transactions. Our corporate finance lawyers represent a wide range of borrowers as well as lending institutions and investors in some of the largest and most sophisticated financing transactions across the globe.

Tax. Our tax lawyers in London are fully integrated into our transactional practice and the tax practice across the firm advising on the UK and international tax aspects of corporate finance/M&A transactions, the tax structuring of investment funds and of related and stand-alone finance transactions. The London team has significant experience on the tax aspects of upstream (fundraising) as well as downstream (buyout and secondaries) private equity business, including the structuring of management incentive arrangements for the funds and investee companies.

LITIGATION DEPARTMENT

International Arbitration. O’Melveny’s London Arbitration practice focuses on international arbitration with an emphasis on large, complex, cross-border commercial disputes in the financial services sector. We have extensive experience in investment treaty work, and our lawyers have handled some of the world’s most significant arbitration cases, including in the offshore, power, and energy sectors.

London High Court Litigation. O’Melveny’s London Litigation practice handles a broad range of high-value, complex commercial disputes in the High Court in London. Our lawyers have extensive experience dealing with cases covering a wide range of industries, with particular experience in the financial services, oil and gas, and energy sectors. Prestigious and well-known corporations often rely on us to handle substantial, multimillion-pound cases. Many of our cases are international in nature, giving our lawyers exceptional practical experience in litigation involving complex issues of jurisdiction, governing law, and conflicts of law. We excel at solving the practical problems raised by enforcement of English judgments in difference jurisdictions, within Europe and around the world.

Antitrust and Competition. Our London Antitrust team works closely with the Firm’s Brussels office, which has a strong reputation in EU and member state competition and regulatory law, including EC and national merger controls, anticompetitive agreements and concerted practices, cartel investigations, abuse of monopoly positions, state aid, and international trade regulation. Most recently, our Brussels office secured a historic victory for client Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) in its Article 82 complaint against Intel, in which the European Commission fined Intel a record €1.06 billion (US$1.44 billion) for its anti-competitive practices.

Key Facts

Related Services