Ben Spiers is a leading mergers and acquisitions attorney, focusing on public and private M&A, securities and corporate restructurings. He has advised a number of clients on complex cross-border transactions around the globe. Ben has been recognized as a leader in his field by IFLR1000, Legal 500 UK and Chambers UK where he is described as “a fantastic full-service counsel.”
Ben has stellar experience in UK public takeovers as well as in asset management M&A.
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Work Highlights
- EQT in its recommended cash acquisition of Keywords Studios Plc
- A consortium including Blackstone and Thomson Reuters on sales of shares in London Stock Exchange Group Plc in placing, buyback and concurrent sale of call options totaling over $4 billion
- Veld Capital in its spin-out from AnaCap Financial Partners
- Barings Private Equity Asia in its acquisition by EQT AB for €6.8 billion
- Bridgepoint in its £907 million initial public offering
- Refinitiv in its sale to London Stock Exchange Group in an all share transaction for a total enterprise value of approximately US$27 billion
- Melrose in its demerger of the GKN Automotive, GKN Powder Metallurgy and GKN Hydrogen businesses into a new independent holding company, Dowlais Group plc, which was listed on the London Stock Exchange
- Bridgepoint in its sale of a strategic minority investment to Dyal Partners
- GardaWorld and BC Partners in the hostile takeover offer for G4S plc
Accolades
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IFLR1000 (M&A)
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The Legal 500, "Hall of Fame" (M&A: Upper Mid-market and Premium Deals)
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Chambers UK (Corporate/M&A: High-End Capability)
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Chambers Global (Private Equity: Buyouts)
Education
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The College of Law, Chester, 1993
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University of Oxford, 1990 B.A. (Hons)
Ben Spiers is a Partner in Simpson Thacher’s London office and a member of the Firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions Practice. Ben’s practice focuses on public and private M&A, securities and corporate restructurings. He has spent many years advising clients on complex cross-border transactions around the globe.
Ben has stellar experience in UK public takeovers as well as in asset management M&A.
- EQT in its recommended cash acquisition of Keywords Studios Plc
- A consortium including Blackstone and Thomson Reuters on sales of shares in London Stock Exchange Group Plc in placing, buyback and concurrent sale of call options totaling over $4 billion
- Veld Capital in its spin-out from AnaCap Financial Partners
- Barings Private Equity Asia in its acquisition by EQT AB for €6.8 billion
- Bridgepoint in its £907 million initial public offering
- Refinitiv in its sale to London Stock Exchange Group in an all share transaction for a total enterprise value of approximately US$27 billion
- Melrose in its demerger of the GKN Automotive, GKN Powder Metallurgy and GKN Hydrogen businesses into a new independent holding company, Dowlais Group plc, which was listed on the London Stock Exchange
- Bridgepoint in its sale of a strategic minority investment to Dyal Partners
- GardaWorld and BC Partners in the hostile takeover offer for G4S plc
- Blackstone in its recommended offer to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Industrials REIT Limited (“Industrials”) at 168 pence per share
- Oakley Capital in its announced acquisitions of Construction Testing Solutions and the Phenna Group
- Bridgepoint in its £907 million initial public offering
- Melrose Industries in the sale of its Nortek Air Management business to Madison Industries for approximately £2.62 billion
- Blackstone in its acquisition of Bourne Leisure and in its acquisition of Desotec
- True Wind Capital in its equity investment, alongside FTV Capital, in Sysnet Global Solutions
- BC Partners in its sale of a passive, minority investment to Blackstone Alternative Asset Management
- Blackstone in its takeover of Hansteen Holdings plc for £500 million
- Melrose Industries in its successful £8.1 billion hostile offer for GKN plc
- Blackstone in its acquisition of Cirsa Gaming Corporation, S.A. for €2.2 billion
- Silver Lake in its takeover of ZPG plc (with co-investment from GIC and PSP) for £2.2 billion
Ben’s experience prior to Simpson Thacher includes representing Honeywell International in its acquisition of the Elster division of Melrose Industries for £3.3 billion, where he first came across Simpson Thacher across the table.
Ben has been recognized as a leader in his field by IFLR1000, Legal 500 UK and Chambers UK where he is described as “a fantastic full-service counsel.” He received his B.A. (Hons) degree from the University of Oxford in Pure and Applied Biology and completed a law conversion qualification and law school at the College of Law in Chester. He is admitted to the Law Society of England and Wales.