Clare Gaskell

A Corporate Partner in Simpson Thacher’s London office, Clare Gaskell advises on private M&A and public takeovers as well as equity capital markets transactions and other corporate matters, including minority and preferred equity investments, consortium transactions, restructurings and management equity plans, with a focus on private equity and other financial sponsor clients. Clare has particular experience in law and regulation applicable to UK-listed companies and handles complex cross-border transactions with international counterparties.

Clare is recognized by Chambers UK for her private equity practice. She has also been named “M&A Lawyer of the Year” and “Best in Private Equity” at Euromoney’s Women in Business Law EMEA Awards, “Transatlantic Dealmaker of the Year” by LegalWeek, and a “Hot 100: Dealmaker” by The Lawyer.  Clare is Chair of the Legal Committee of UK Private Capital (formerly known as the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA)).

Clare’s experience includes the representation of:

• New Mountain Capital on its investment in Appleby
• Apax Partners on its €916.5 million recommended offer for Apax Global Alpha Limited
• Underdog Sports on the c. $1.3 billion sale to IG Group Holdings
  Metaphysic on its combination with DNEG Group’s Brahma AI, valuing the combined business at $1.43 billion
• Orchid Lux HoldCo, an affiliate of KKR, on the sale of shares as part of OHB’s €900 million re-initial public offering
• Accountor Software, which is majority owned by funds managed by KKR, in its acquisition of certain enterprise resource planning (ERP) subsidiaries and assets of 24SevenOffice for c. SEK 2.4 billion and its recommended voluntary public cash tender offer for Heeros Oyj
• KKR on its recommended offers for Smart Metering Systems plc for total offer consideration of £1.3 billion; ContourGlobal plc for total offer consideration of £1.75 billion; and John Laing Group plc for total offer consideration of £2 billion, and other European take-privates including Biotage AB (Stockholm Stock Exchange), Ocean Yield (Oslo Stock Exchange) and Albioma (Euronext Paris)
• Private capital financing sources on secured debt financings supporting the acquisition of Moreld by McIntyre Partners and Velocity Partners and subsequently the acquisition of Ocean Installer by Moreld
• KKR on its acquisition of A-Gas and subsequent sale of a majority stake in A-Gas to TPG Rise Climate
• CBRE on its acquisition of a 60% interest in and entry into a strategic partnership with Turner & Townsend for a cash consideration of c. £960 million, and in its recommended cash offer for Telford Homes plc
• Lone Star on its €1 billion acquisition of Manuchar
• H.I.G. on its acquisition of KPMG’s UK restructuring business
• KKR on its acquisition of a majority stake in Coty Inc.’s professional beauty and retail hair businesses (now known as Wella), with an enterprise value of $4.3 billion, and Wella in its acquisition of Briogeo
• Global Blue Group AG, a portfolio company of Silver Lake Partners, on its merger with Far Point Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company listed on the New York Stock Exchange
• Calisen PLC and KKR on Calisen’s £337.4 million London main market IPO
  KKR on its acquisition and carve-out of Unilever’s baking, cooking and spreads business (now known as Flora Food Group), for a total consideration of €6.825 billion, and Flora Food Group on the sale of its Latin American business, excluding Mexico and Brazil, to Alicorp
• Gates Industrial Corporation plc, a portfolio company of Blackstone, on its $841 million IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, and subsequent secondary offerings and share repurchases
• Multiple other engagements for KKR, including its acquisition and subsequent divestment of a stake in a $4 billion infrastructure deal with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), its acquisitions of Medicover India, Healthium Medtech Ltd. and stakes in Cognita and Avincis, the sales of LGC and its stake in BMG, and various investments in and disposals of stakes in listed companies
• Multiple engagements for Blackstone, including its acquisitions of Acetow and Armacell and its recommended offer for AIM-traded Japan Residential Investment Company Limited
• Other financial sponsor-backed London main market IPOs, including Ascential plc (Apax), Auto Trader Group PLC (Apax) and Pets at Home Group Plc (KKR)
  Melrose Industries PLC on its acquisition of NASDAQ-traded Nortek, Inc., its contested public offer for Charter International PLC and the sale of its Elster and Dynacast businesses
• Various private equity portfolio and public companies on capital reorganisations, governance and disclosure requirements, management equity plans and other company law and financing matters