Paul Hastings’ London M&A Team Closes a Flurry of Deals

May 16, 2019

London – Amid market uncertainty and reports of lower transaction volumes, the M&A and PE team at Paul Hastings in London has been enjoying an exceptionally busy period of deal activity.

This week saw the firm, with a team led by private equity star Anu Balasubramanian and including recently promoted partner Matthew Poxon, advise Oakley Capital on its acquisition of maritime e-learning businesses Seagull and Videotel. The team has now advised Oakley Capital on six transactions since the beginning of 2019, following the acquisitions of Mystic and Ekon and the arrangements with Rastreator and Acierto earlier this year. In the past 12 months the London office of Paul Hastings has advised private equity sponsors (including Abry Partners, Oakley Capital, Francisco Partners, Astorg and Vector Capital) on more than 10 closed deals, with a total transaction value in excess of €6 billion.

Alongside the success of its PE practice, the wider M&A team has also been busy, with deals signing in the past few weeks including Garrett Hayes advising Salt Mobile SA on its €700m sale of telecom towers in Switzerland and Astorg on its acquisition of a significant stake in insurance software company Acturis.

Balasubramanian commented: “When Roger and I arrived at Paul Hastings last year we knew we were joining a team which possessed considerable talent and deal experience and it’s been terrific to be able to act for existing and new clients alike on their key transactions”. Barron added ”The last 12 months have been exceptional for our team and with the recent arrival of infrastructure M&A partner Steven Bryan, and a number of exciting deals in the pipeline, we’re optimistic about the year ahead too.”

The London office of Paul Hastings has seen considerable change recently with former office head Ronan O’Sullivan being elected to global co-managing partner and Arun Birla taking over in London. The firm announced strong financial results for 2018 with profits per equity partner (PEP) increasing by 12 per cent to $3.25 million and London office revenues up some 14 per cent following on from a 25 per cent increase in the previous year.

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