Ashley Ballard concentrates on corporate and corporate finance transactions with a particular emphasis on cross-border mergers & acquisitions, privatisations, and private equity transactions. He has worked on transactions in the UK and across continental Europe involving a variety of industries, including banking, real estate, electronics, chemicals, hotel and leisure and automotive. Mr. Ballard has worked in the Milan and Prague offices of White & Case.

Mr. Ballard's experience also includes the establishment of joint ventures, public offers (including those governed by the Takeover Code), public-to-private management and leveraged buyouts and offerings of equity securities.

Mr. Ballard has significant experience of legal issues that often arise in connection with UK and cross-border transactions, including anti-trust regulations, corporate governance issues, financial assistance, on-going public disclosure and reporting requirements and related labour law issues.

Mr. Ballard has acted for numerous well-known banks, multinational corporations and governmental entities in the recent past, most notably:

• Advising a multinational private group on its acquisition of an FSA regulated London based bank;
• Advising Dice Holdings Inc. on its cash/share offer to acquire eFinancial Group Limited, a holding company for the online recruitment businesses operated by eFinancial Careers Limited and Jobsinthemoney.com;
• Acting as lead partner advising UniCredito Italiano S.p.A. on the integration of its Central and Eastern European banking group with that of the Hypo Vereinsbank and Bank Austria group. The work involves overseeing the merger and restructuring of the individual banks of both groups in numerous countries including, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Croatia, Turkey, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria and Bosnia Herzogovna;
• Representing UniCredito Italiano S.p.A. as bidder in various bank privatisations in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia and on its acquisition in Turkey of a 50% stake in Koçbank, and associated joint venture;
• Advising Doughty Hanson real estate fund in relation to its US$217m joint venture with Liberty Property Limited Partnership structured through a Jersey Property Unit Trust;
• Representing Celestica Inc., a Toronto and New York listed EMS multinational, in connection with unrelated transactions in the UK, Italy, France, Poland, Holland, Germany and the Czech Republic;
• Representing a well-known consumer products multinational in its proposed acquisition of an Italian headquartered multinational with subsidiaries in Italy, W. Europe and N. America;
• Advising Eastman Chemicals in its acquisition of the largest chemical producer in the Czech Republic;
• Representing a consortium of investment funds in their sale of Intercontinental Hotel Prague, a.s. to Starwood Hotels; and
• Advising Hanson PLC on its four-way de-merger and associated restructuring, and the sale of Hanson Electrical Limited to Cinven PLC.