Robbie McLaren’s practice includes cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and emerging companies. He represents clients who principally operate in the life sciences, healthcare, and technology industries. Robbie is Global Vice Chair of the firm’s Healthcare & Life Sciences Industry Group and former Co-Chair of the London Corporate Department.

Robbie's experience includes advising:

Life Sciences and Healthcare

M&A

  • Abcam, a global leader in the supply of life science research tools on its:
    • US$5.7bn sale to Danaher Corp
    • US$340 million acquisition of BioVision
    • License and asset purchase agreement with Roche Tissue Diagnostics to obtain exclusive rights to the product portfolio of Spring Bioscience Corporation
  • Baxter International Inc., in connection with its US$625 million acquisition of Claris Injectables Limited, an India-based manufacturer of sterile injectables
  • BenevolentAI, a UK-based clinical-stage AI drug discovery company, on its business combination with Odyssey Acquisition S.A., a special purpose acquisition company 
  • Zogenix on its acquisition of Brabant Pharma, a UK-based pharmaceutical company
  • Watson Pharmaceuticals / Actavis / Allergan on its:
    • €4.25 billion acquisition of the Actavis Group, making Watson the third-largest global generics company
    • US$8.5bn acquisition of Warner Chilcott, an Ireland-based pharmaceutical company 
    • Divestment of part of its Western European generics sale and marketing business to Aurobindo
    • US$40.5 billion sale of its global generics pharmaceuticals business to Teva
  • Atnahs Pharma (now Pharmanovia) on its acquisition of assets related to five hypertension medicine brands from AstraZeneca
  • GlaxoSmithKline on its:
    • disposal of its Prevacid®24HR business to Perrigo Company
    • sale of assets relating to four established OTC brands, being Baldriparan and Formigran, Spalt and Kamol to PharmaSGP, a German pharmaceutical company
    • Rayner Surgical Group, a UK-based developer and manufacturer of intraocular lenses, on its sale to CVC Capital Partners

Private Equity

  • Patient Square Capital on its investment in Apollo Therapeutics, a UK and US-based drug discovery company 
  • Norgine, a Netherlands-based specialty pharmaceutical company, on its US$2 billion sale to Goldman Sachs
  • TPG on the acquisition of a majority interest in DOC Generici, a leading generic pharmaceutical company based in Milan, from ICG and Merieux Equity Partners
  • Theramex, a global specialty pharmaceutical company dedicated to women’s healthcare, in connection with its:
    • US$703 million acquisition by CVC Capital Partners of women’s healthcare assets from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd
    • Acquisition of certain pharmaceutical products from Janssen
    • Sale to a consortium controlled by Carlyle and PAI
  • Nordic Capital on:
    • the US$846 million acquisition of ADVANZ PHARMA, a specialty pharmaceutical company
    • the acquisition by Acino, a portfolio company, of various pharmaceutical products and related assets in the NEMEA region from Takeda
  • Novo Holdings A/S on its:
    • investment into Freeline Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company
    • investment in Hummingbird, a biotechnology company 
    • investment into Quanta Dialysis Technologies
    • investment into Adaptimmune, a leading biotechnology company
    • £260 million acquisition of Benchmark Genetics Limited
    • £230 million disposal of Archimedes
    • US$800 million acquisition of Xellia
    • £400 million acquisition of BBI Group 
  • BC Partners on the acquisition of a majority interest in the complex generic medicines business of Synthon International, a Netherlands-based multinational pharmaceutical company
  • The shareholders of Pharmathen SA, a Greek pharmaceuticals company, on their sale of a controlling interest in Pharmathen to BC Partners

Technology, Media, and Telecoms

  • Rivulis, a portfolio company of Temasek, on the acquisition of the international business of Jain Irrigation Systems, an India-based micro irrigation systems company
  • Darktrace, a UK-based AI cyber security company, in connection with:
    • its £1.7 billion initial public offering and listing on the London Stock Exchange
    • acquisition of Cybersprint, a Netherlands-based cybersecurity firm
    • a convertible note round led by KKR and Summit Partners
  • Vertical Aerospace on its US$2.2 billion business combination with Broadstone Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company
  • Centricus Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company, on its US$1 billion business combination with Arqit, a London-based developer of a quantum encryption platform
  • Canva, an Australia-based online graphic design and publishing company, on its acquisition of Kiln Enterprises, a data visualization company
  • Mimecast on the acquisition of Simply Migrate, a London-based provider of archive data migration technology
  • Telenor on its €2.8 billion sale of its assets in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to PPF Group

Emerging Companies

  • Moneybox, the leading digital wealth manager, on its £35 million Series D funding round
  • Osler Diagnostics, a health technology company, on its Series C financing round
  • Bloom and Wild on its:
    • Series C financing round
    • Acquisition of Bergamotte, a French online florist
    • Acquisition of Bloomon, a Netherlands-based online florist
  • Carbon Clean, a global leader in cost-effective industrial carbon capture on the investment made by Chevron, one of the world’s leading integrated energy companies
  • Burda on their:
    • Series C investment in HungryPanda Ltd
    • Series B and Series B1 financing of Bloom & Wild, an online flower delivery platform
    • Series A financing of Bleach
  • An Asian investor on their equity investment in:
    • Sound Cloud, a Germany-based company engaged in providing online audio platform services
    • Claroty, a cybersecurity software company
    • Common Sense Robotics
    • South Pole, a Swiss carbon finance consultancy
    • Aerogen, an acute aerosol drug delivery business
    • Secret Escapes, a luxury travel company
    • Snyk Limited, a cybersecurity company
    • Sum-up, a global financial technology company

Bar Qualification

  • England and Wales (Solicitor)
  • Scotland (Solicitor)

Education

  • Diploma in Legal Practice, University of Edinburgh, 2004
  • LLB (Hons), University of Edinburgh, 2003

Languages Spoken

  • English