Guy Potel

Partner, London

Biography

“The way Guy handled himself at the negotiations was very impressive. His skills helped close the deal smoothly.”
Chambers UK 2016

Overview

Guy Potel is a partner in our global M&A and Corporate practice based in London.

With more than 20 years of experience, he advises both listed and private companies on acquisitions, equity capital raisings, joint ventures and minority equity investments. Guy has a reputation for being an impressive negotiator and commercially astute. His advice is sought by companies across a variety of industry sectors, particularly in the fintech and technology sectors.

Listed companies seek Guy's advice to help them navigate the complex landscape of securities laws that apply to them (including the Market Abuse Regulation, Listing Rules, the UK Takeover Code and various corporate governance codes). His depth of experience in this field has also made Guy a go-to individual for activists in their public market value creation strategies.
 

Bars and Courts
England and Wales
Education
CPE
The College of Law
BA
University of Leeds
Languages
English
French

Experience

Public M&A (sell-side)

  • Ocean Outdoor Limited in connection with Atairos' US$580 million takeover by way of BVI statutory merger
  • Representation of Monitise in connection with Fiserv’s £75 million takeover offer for Monitise
  • Representation of Northumbrian Water in connection with UK Water's £4.7 billion takeover offer for Northumbrian Water*
  • Representation of New Star in connection with Henderson’s £115 million takeover offer for New Star*

Public M&A (buy-side)

  • Representation of Echostar in connection with its £3.2 billion approach to Inmarsat plc
  • Representation of Antin Infrastructure Partners and Goldman Sachs’ West Street Infrastructure Partners in connection with their £540 million takeover offer for CityFibre
  • Representation of UBS in connection with Ion Capital’s £1.5 billion takeover offer for Fidessa
  • Representation of Standard Chartered Bank in connection with with PT Medco Energi Internasional Tbk’s £400 million takeover offer for Ophir Energy plc
  • Representation of activist funds in connection with several high profile UK takeovers and value creation strategies

Equity Capital Markets

  • Representation of each of Crystal Peak Acquisitions and Ahren Acquisition Corp (both SPACs) on their respective IPOs on Euroclear Amsterdam and Nasdaq respectively
  • Representation of the African Export Import Bank on its proposed London IPO plans which will be a first of its kind for a multi-lateral development bank on a major exchange
  • Representation of Avast on its IPO
  • Representation of DiscoverIE plc on its £30 million cashbox placing
  • Representation of IQE on its £100 million cash placing
  • Representation of Telia Company on its US$1.5 billion sell down of its stake in Megafon

Private M&A / Joint Ventures

  • Representation of LSE listed discoverIE Group plc on the sale of its Custom Supply distribution business (Acal BFi) to H2 Equity Partners
  • Representation of Paysafe Group on its acquisition of Viafintech, one of the largest bank-independent alternative payments infrastructures in Europe 
  • Representation of Elliott Management in the restructuring (including a debt for equity swap) of the South American airlines business, Avianca Holdings, S.A.
  • Representation of Smiths Group plc on its disposal of its medical devices business, Smiths Medical, for approximately US$3 billion
  • Representation of Prism Group AG, a Dubai based fintech group (acting in consortium Royal Strategic Partners) on its acquisition of the LSE listed Finablr Group, a global financial services platform
  • Representation of Prism Group AG on its acquisition of the BFC (the Bahrain Finance Corporation), a regional payments and remittance business
  • Representation of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as a founding investor on the creation of a US$750 million biopharmaceutical platform to broaden access to vital specialty generic drugs in Africa
  • Representation of the senior secured lender group in a comprehensive out of court restructuring (including a debt for equity swap) of a Brazilian-based offshore drilling company 
  • Representation of Pollinate, a new merchant acquiring technology company, on its establishment and funding rounds raising, in aggregate, over US$200 million including investments from RBS, MasterCard, Fiserv, CIBC, NAB and EFM Asset Management
  • Representation of Fiserv, Inc. on various equity investments and the disposal of a Turkish subsidiary
  • Representation of Motive Partners, the world’s first pure play fintech owner / operator PE fund on the establishment of its fintech innovation labs in London and New York
  • Representation of Megafon on its US$700 million acquisition of a controlling interest in Mail.ru
Publications

Trends in UK Public M&A 2018, LexisNexis Market Tracker Trend Report

Awards and Recognition

Ranked as a leading individual in high-end complex M&A and described as 'very impressive', Chambers UK