Dentons is pleased to announce that leading corporate partner David Collins has joined the Firm in London. Formerly Managing Partner of Corporate at Berwin Leighton Paisner, David is a highly experienced UK corporate finance practitioner who is ranked as a Band 1 individual for mid-market M&A in Chambers and is listed as a “Leading Individual” for small and mid-cap flotations in The Legal 500.
David has also been appointed as UK Head of Corporate and co-chair of the Global M&A Group, effective from 1 January 2016. Richard Barham, who has successfully led the UK Corporate practice for the past four years, will be returning to a full-time fee-earning role.
With experience spanning public and private M&A, equity capital markets and corporate advisory work, David has advised on many domestic and international transactions across a broad range of sectors. A proven leader with an extensive network of contacts at investment banks, corporate brokers, M&A advisers and the corporate finance arms of accountancy firms, his arrival at Dentons is an important step towards furthering our strategic objectives of continued growth, strengthening our brand in the City and capitalising on the opportunities for cross-border M&A as a result of the Firm’s rapid international expansion.
Jeremy Cohen, Dentons’ UKMEA Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Building a stronger Corporate practice is one of our key priorities for the region. Following the recent merger with McKenna Long & Aldridge in the US, combination with 大成 in China and impending tie-ups in Australia, Singapore and Latin America, we can expect to see increasing amounts of opportunities for cross-border work.
“Dentons now has one of the world’s largest M&A teams with a deep bench of experience in the energy and natural resources, financial institutions, corporate real estate and TMT sectors in particular. Combined with David’s track record of successful leadership and high standing in the City, the UK Corporate practice now has a very strong platform from which to access a greater volume of high quality domestic and cross-border mandates.”
David Collins added, “As many law firms continue to reflect on how to position themselves for the future in an increasingly competitive environment, I have been extremely impressed by Dentons’ ability to execute on its ground-breaking global strategy. Dentons’ corporate businesses continue to evolve, reflecting the wealth of opportunities arising from the firm’s rapid growth and international expansion. I am delighted to join Dentons at such an exciting time for the Firm, and to be able to contribute to the ongoing development of the Corporate practice in the UK and the firm’s broader global M&A offering.”
David is Dentons’ third London Corporate hire in 2015, following the arrival of capital markets partner Nikolas Colbridge and corporate insurance partner Martin Mankabady, bringing our total number of UK Corporate partners up to 20.
Recent deals include advising:
•Marshall Motor Holdings Plc on its £40 million private placing and admission to AIM
•RM2 International on its £278 million AIM IPO
•KSL Capital Partners on its disposal of the Malmaison and Hotel du Vin hotel group to Frasers Hospitality UK Holdings Ltd
•Minmetco Limited on its sale of a 75 per cent majority interest in UK metals trading firm Metdist Trading Limited to China Construction Bank (CCB), the country’s second largest state-owned lender.
•L1 Energy, the market leading global oil and gas investment fund of the LetterOne Group advised by Pamplona Capital Management, in relation to the completion and shareholder funding of its acquisition of RWE Dea AG, the oil and gas unit of RWE AG, Germany’s largest power generator, for debt and equity consideration of US$5.7 billion.
•PETRONAS, the Malaysian oil and gas giant, on its acquisition of Statoil’s 15.5% interest in the Shah Deniz gas field and associated pipelines off shore Azerbaijan.
