Ed Barnett is a partner in the Corporate Department of Latham & Watkins' London office and Global Co-Chair of the firm's Mergers & Acquisitions Practice.
Mr. Barnett advises clients on a variety of cross-border M&A and corporate finance transactions, including public takeovers, takeover defence, 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.
Mr. Barnett’s experience includes advising:
- 888 Holdings on its US Sports Betting and Gaming partnership with Authentic Brands’ Sports Illustrated
- TechnipFMC plc on the spin-off of its onshore/offshore business to create a standalone publicly traded company, Technip Energies, listed on Euronext Paris, with a separate OTC listing of its ADRs
- Easybrain, a leading mobile game developer with a core focus on puzzle and logic games, in its acquisition by Embracer Group
- Total on its agreement to acquire a 20% minority interest in Adani Green Energy Limited
- NVIDIA on its US$40 billion acquisition of Arm Limited, the Cambridge-headquartered semiconductor and software design company, from SoftBank — the combination brings together NVIDIA’s leading AI computing platform with Arm’s vast ecosystem to create the premier computing company for the age of AI
- Stormlight Holdings (Silverstein family’s investment firm) in a significant investment into Swansea City Football Club
- NRG Energy on its US$3.625 billion acquisition of Direct Energy, a North American subsidiary of Centrica plc
- Venator Materials on its acquisition of European TiO2 paper laminates business (the "8120 Grade") of Tronox, a producer of titanium dioxide pigment
- Farfetch on its acquisition of certain operating assets of Style.com, an e-commerce fashion site
- GlaxoSmithKline plc on the Series A Preferred Share Financing for Sitryx Therapeutics Limited
- GlaxoSmithKline plc on the sale of the North American rights for Keri®, a provider of skin care products, to Crown Laboratories
- GlaxoSmithKline plc on the sale of its Prevacid®24HR business to Perrigo Company
- Farfetch on a joint venture to expand in the Middle East
- 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 Oasis BH, company that indirectly wholly owns 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, a portfolio company of KSL Capital Partners of Alua Hotels & Resorts
- TechnipFMC plc on its tax-free spin-off into two publicly traded companies
- On the proposed acquisition by Dana Incorporated of the driveline division of GKN plc
- The sellers on the disposal of Method and Ecover global consumer products businesses to US private company SC Johnson
- 888 Holdings plc on its aborted cash and share offer for bwin.party digital entertainment plc*
- 888 Holdings plc on its proposed acquisition by William Hill plc*
- Accenture on the acquisition of Nokia Siemens Newtorks’ IPTV business*
- Big Bus Tours shareholders on the sale to Exponent Private Equity*
- Coca-Cola Iberian Partners on its three-way merger with Coca-Cola Enterprises and Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetränke, to form Coca-Cola European Partners*
- Facebook Inc. on its acquisitions of Monoidics Ltd, LiveWire, and other confidential M&A matters*
- Giant Network Technology Co. and other Chinese investors in connection with the acquisition of Playtika from Caesars Entertainment*
- GlaxoSmithKline plc on its disposal of Ribena and Lucozade drinks brand to Suntory Inc. of Japan*
- GlaxoSmithKline plc on its acquisition of Cellzone Ltd*
- Interwoven Corp on its acquisition by Autonomy plc*
- Kop Football Limited on the acquisition of Liverpool Football Club plc*
- Lloyds Banking Group on the disposal of De Vere Villages and Golf Resorts.
- Manchester United Football Club on corporate finance matters and significant commercial matters including its merchandising agreement with Adidas AG*
- Electronic Arts on its acquisitions of Playfish and Chillingo*
*Matter handled prior to joining Latham