Ed Barnett is a partner in the Corporate Department of Latham & Watkins' London office.

Mr. Barnett advises clients on a variety of cross-border M&A and corporate finance transactions, including public takeovers, takeover defense, joint ventures, and private company and business acquisitions and divestments, with a particular focus in consumer, technology, pharmaceuticals, and entertainment, media, and sports sectors. He also represents clients on company representation work, including advising on a range of corporate governance matters. He is a former Global Co-Chair of the firm's Mergers & Acquisitions Practice.

Mr. Barnett’s experience includes advising:

  • MSD UK Holdings Limited, lender to West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, in connection with the indirect sale of 87.8% of West Bromwich Albion Football Club to Bilkul Football WBA, LLC
  • Manchester United plc on its agreement with Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the Chairman of INEOS, under which he will acquire up to a 25% shareholding in the company
  • Farfetch on various transactions, including on:
    • Its sale to Greenoaks and Coupang via a UK pre-pack administration process, as well as the negotiation of a committed first lien delayed draw term loan facility of up to US$500 million
    • The proposed acquisition of 47.5% of YOOX Net-a-Porter from Richemont 
    • Its global strategic partnership and joint venture with Alibaba Group and Richemont
    • Its acquisition of certain operating assets of Style.com
  • Block M shareholders on bp’s agreement to acquire the 50.03% interest it does not already own in Lightsource bp, one of the world’s leading developers and operator of utility-scale solar and battery storage assets
  • TechnipFMC plc on various transactions, including on:
    • Its entry into an agreement to sell its Measurement Solutions business to One Equity Partners
    • The spin-off of its onshore/offshore business to create Technip Energies, listed on Euronext Paris
    • Its tax-free spin-off into two publicly traded companies
  • Dynasty Equity, a global sports investment firm, on its strategic minority investment in Liverpool F.C.
  • One of the lead financial advisors to UBS on its proposed takeover of Credit Suisse
  • Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital consortium on its £4.25 billion acquisition of Chelsea Football Club
  • Whirlpool Corporation on its strategic joint venture with Arçelik A.Ş (Arcelik), as part of its portfolio transformation
  • AllianceBernstein on its joint venture with Societe Generale 
  • 888 Holdings plc on various transactions, including on: 
    • Its US partnership with Sports Illustrated
    • Its £2.2 billion acquisition of William Hill international
  • Silver Lake on various transactions, including on:
    • Its investment in Australian A-League
    • Its acquisition of stakes in City Football Group, parent company of, among others, Manchester City Football Club
  • TotalEnergies on various transactions, including on:
    • Its agreement with Adani Enterprises Limited to acquire a 25% interest in Adani New Industries Limited 
    • Its agreement to acquire a 20% minority interest in Adani Green Energy Limited
    • The sale of TEPKRI Sarsang to ShaMaran Petroleum
    • The sale by TOTAL Deutschland of a stake in Großtanklager-Ölhafen Rostock to EUROPORTS 
  • Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. on various transactions, including on:
    • Its US$1.2 billion acquisition of OpenBet
    • The acquisition of Madrid Open tennis tournament and the Acciona Open de España golf tournament
  • NVIDIA on its proposed US$40 billion acquisition of ARM from SoftBank
  • NRG Energy on its US$3.625 billion acquisition of Direct Energy, from Centrica plc
  • Venator Materials plc, on various matters, including on:
    • The sale of its iron oxide business to Cathay Industries 
    • Its acquisition of European TiO2 paper laminates business from Tronox
  • Meta Platforms, Inc. on various transactions, including on:
    • Its acquisition of Unit 2 Games 
    • The acquisition by Oculus VR 
    • Its acquisition of Papers with Code
  • GlaxoSmithKline plc on various transactions, including on:
    • The financing for Sitryx Therapeutics Limited 
    • The sale of the North American rights for Keri® to Crown Laboratories
    • The sale of its Prevacid®24HR business to Perrigo Company
    • The sale of OTC brand portfolio including Baldriparan, Formigran, Spalt, and Kamol, to PharmaSGP
    • The sale of OTC brands including Breathe Right® Nasal Strips to Foundation Consumer Healthcare
  • London Stock Exchange group plc on its US$1.1 billion sale of BETA+ to Clearlake Capital Group and Motive Partners
  • Swingers (indoor golf experience) on its financing round led by Cain international and Knighthead Capital Management
  • Threads, on its divestment of a majority stake to Chalhoub
  • Delivery Associates on its sale to Trill Impact
  • Easybrain, on its acquisition by Embracer Group
  • Celsius Network on an investment led by WestCap and CDPQ
  • Ascential plc on various transactions, including on: 
    • Its acquisition of Shenzhen 4KMiles Technologies 
    • Its acquisition of Sellics
  • Authentic Brands Group on its US$2.5 billion acquisition of Reebok
  • Stormlight Holdings in a significant investment into Swansea City Football Club
  • BDT Capital on its acquisition of Fox International
  • SENT Entertainment Ltd on its acquisition of Como 1907, an Italy-based football club
  • Cain International on its equity investment in the Beverly Hills Hilton and the Waldorf-Astoria Beverly Hills
  • Israel Chemicals Limited on its US$1 billion sale of its fire safety and oil additives business units to SK Capital Partners
  • KSL Capital on the acquisition by Apple Leisure Group
  • The sellers on the disposal of Method and Ecover to SC Johnson
  • Big Bus Tours shareholders on the sale to Exponent*
  • Coca-Cola Iberian Partners on its three-way merger with Coca-Cola Enterprises and Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetränke*
  • Kop Football Limited on the acquisition of Liverpool Football Club plc* 
  • Manchester United Football Club on corporate finance matters and significant commercial matters*

*Matter handled prior to joining Latham

Bar Qualification

  • England and Wales (Solicitor)

Education

  • Postgraduate Diploma in Law, College of Law
  • CPE, College of Law
  • BA, University of Leeds