Funds

Highlights of Keith’s recent funds-related experience include advising on:

• a wide range of investments and co-investments into top tier private equity, real estate, infrastructure and credit funds, including for GFH (the Bahraini financial institution), Macquarie (the Australia-headquartered sponsor), Barings (the global financial institution) and numerous other sovereign wealth, financial institution and charity clients
• fund of one and related platform investment arrangements, for sponsors and investors across a range of investment sectors, including for Octopus Renewables, APG and GFH
• real estate and infrastructure joint ventures, including CPPIB on the establishment of a JV with Round Hill Capital, which will seek to acquire a European student accommodation portfolio of up to €1bn initially (with scope to increase further over time), GIC (the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund) on the extension of its UK real estate JV with Unite Student (a listed UK manager and developer of student accommodation) and various others
• fund formation issues, advisory matters, reorganisations, succession planning and liquidity event planning for sponsors, asset and wealth managers and others, including Greater Pacific Capital on its GPC Fund II and a range of other GP-side matters, a blue chip US bank on the prospective formation of a high growth investment fund, the Ukraine Ministry of Economy on the establishment of the Ukraine Development Fund, and Fidelity International Limited on the demerger and spin-out of its ‘Eight Roads’ venture capital investment division
• capital markets-related mandates, including Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Petershill Partners (the GP solutions investment firm) on its £1.2bn initial public offering and Chapter 15 premium listing on the London Stock Exchange, and Allfunds Group (one of the world’s leading B2B WealthTech platforms) and its majority owner Hellman & Friedman, on its IPO on Euronext Amsterdam
• M&A mandates, including Keppel Corporation on its agreement to acquire the real estate investment manager Aermont, Octopus Energy on its acquisition of Octopus Renewables (an investment management business focusing on renewable energy opportunities), and Carta (the San Francisco based fintech start-up with a multi-billion dollar valuation) on its acquisition of Vauban (the London-based online VC fund establishment technology platform)
• fund regulatory matters, for sponsors and others, including on the application of UK collective investment scheme rules in innovative structures, marketing under the UK financial promotion regime, and (now onshored) AIFMD matters

M&A and other corporate

Highlights of Keith’s other experience, acting for top-tier financial institutions, multinational corporations and others on M&A, general corporate, and capital markets mandates, include advising:

• AstraZeneca on its c.$7 billion acquisition of Acerta Pharma from its founders and other investors
• Bank of America on its £7bn sale of the credit card business MBNA to Lloyds Banking Group
• Holcim on €6.5bn of divestments to CRH, in connection with Holcim’s €40bn merger with Lafarge
• AIG on its $1.1bn disposal of Ascot, the Lloyd’s of London insurance syndicate, to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
• CHAPS (the UK bank-to-bank payment system, when a member-run private sector company) on its acquisition by the Bank of England
• Deloitte Global, and various other professional services firms and non-government organisations including Save the Children, on a variety of corporate restructuring and member firm combination mandates, and on broader advisory and governance matters
• Phoenix Group on its “onshoring” into the UK, and the associated topco scheme of arrangement
• on various restructurings and distressed M&A mandates (including with Steinhoff International and Four Seasons Health Care)
• DAZN / Perform Group on a variety of equity investment and reorganisation matters
• HP on its split into two separate listed Fortune 50 companies (HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise on the subsequent spin-offs of its Enterprise Services division to CSC and its Software division to Micro Focus, and various private M&A and other matters with Hewlett Packard Enterprise
• UK Government on its privatisation of Royal Mail and the associated restructuring of its associated pension obligations
• prominent FTSE 100 client on its response to a shareholder activist campaign
• British Land on its convertible bond issuances and redemption, and a range of other corporate matters

• Admitted as a solicitor (2010)
• Legal Practice Course (2007) and Graduate Diploma in Law (2006), both with BPP
• University of Leeds - English and Philosophy BA honours (2004)