Leon Ferera has been advising clients on an extensive range of corporate transactions and governance matters, including public takeover offers, private M&A transactions, buyouts, and joint ventures, for more than 25 years. He was seconded for two years to the UK Takeover Panel (where he was also secretary to the Code Committee, which carries out the Panel's rulemaking functions) and for one year to Invesco's UK equities team. Leon leads the London M&A Practice.
Leon's representative matters include advising: Reynolds American on its $27.4 billion acquisition of Lorillard and subsequent $49 billion acquisition by BAT; Koch Real Estate Investments on its bid with Fortress for Wm Morrison Supermarkets; The Stars Group on its £11 billion combination with Flutter; STERIS on its $6.2 billion combination with Synergy Health; Bally's on its $2.7 billion takeover of Gamesys and related $1.5 billion senior notes offering; Signature Aviation on the $1.36 billion sale of its Ontic business to CVC; Ansys on its acquisitions of Motor Design, OnScale, and Granta Design; Hansteen on its £500 million takeover by Blackstone; Freudenberg on its takeover of Low & Bonar; Houlihan Lokey on GVC Holdings' £3.9 billion takeover of Ladbrokes Coral; and Canyon Bridge on its £550 million takeover of Imagination Technologies.
Leon speaks and writes frequently on takeovers, is a member of the takeovers working group of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales' (ICAEW) Corporate Finance Faculty, and is repeatedly recommended in leading legal directories.
Experiência
- February 2019
Author, The In-House Lawyer Comparative Guide on Corporate Governance, UK Jurisdiction - April 2009
Comment la crise financeière affecte-t-elle les contrats de fusions-acquisitions?, Tribune Capital Finance
- April 17, 2019
Foreign Investment Review and Public Takeovers in the UK - Key considerations for Chinese investors, Jones Day Shanghai Outbound Seminar - April 16, 2019
Key considerations for Chinese investment into the UK, Jones Day Beijing Outbound Seminar - April 15, 2019
Foreign Investment Review and Public Takeovers in the UK - Key considerations for Chinese investors, Seminar to CAPE - 20 avril 2017
Finale de la 3ème édition du Prix Jones Day/ESSEC/Paris II - 17 novembre 2016
Atelier AFJE "Négocier un contrat de cession d'actions pro-vendeur" - November 9, 2016
Jones Day Global Life Sciences Conference – 2016 Issues & Trends - June 3, 2015
Global Insights: The Future of M&A - April 2012
In the Battle for Success, How to Win the M&A War, panelist, Merrill Datasite webinar - September 2011
CNBC/Global Finance webcast on Trends in European M&A, panelist - March 2009
The Expro International case and schemes of arrangement, Jones Day client seminar - February 5, 2009
Impacts juridiques de la crise financière sur les opérations de fusions-acquisitions, Atelier AFJE - September 2007
The Takeover Code and AIM, Presentation to Standard Bank - July 2006
The Implementation of the Takeovers Directive, Presentation to Hoare Govett - December 2003
Understanding the Takeover Panel, Presentation to M&A team and members of the European offices of UBS AG - October 2003
Understanding The Takeover Panel, Presentation to London M&A Team of Greenhill
- The College of Law, London (Legal Practice Course with commendation 1995; Common Professional Examination 1994); University of Oxford (B.A. Hons. in Modern Languages 1992)
- Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales
Chambers UK: "draws praise for his tremendous knowledge of transactional work, with particular strength in public M&A"; "receives strong endorsement from his clients ... [and] is widely regarded as excellent"; "a super M&A attorney"
Legal 500: "the team is particularly well regarded for its capabilities in public takeover bids, driven largely by the efforts of the ‘fantastic’ Leon Ferera"
- French, German