Private Equity/M&A Associate 3-4 years PQE

The candidate will work closely with the core private equity partners on private equity transactions (MBOs, LBOs, Auction Sales, Management Equity Arrangements, Public to Privates, general corporate advice to portfolio companies). The candidate will also have the opportunity to become involved in business development activities (both formal pitches and more socially) as the group grows its private equity offering. The candidate will have the opportunity to work on general M&A matters (both public and private) with other partners in the group.

Key Deals
Transactional
• The Fayed Family Trust on the sale of Harrods Group to Qatar Holding LLC
• Cabot Square Capital on a number of transactions
• Bain Capital Ventures and SV Life Services on the UK aspects of the acquisition of the Pharma Services Early Stage division of MDS Inc by portfolio company, Sequence Pharma Services (2009)
• The Carlyle Group on the UK aspects of its acquisition of OpenLink Financial, a software developer for the commodity, energy and financial services industries from TA Associates (2009)
• APG Investments on a number of direct investments into interesting new asset classes including music publishing rights (acquired from Universal Music Group) and loan portfolios including the acquisition of Boosey and Hawkes from HG Capital and Catalogs
• Blackstone on its acquisitions of Hilton Hotels, Klöckner Pentaplast and Travelport, on its investment of Deutsche Telekom and on its bid for World Directories
• Blackstone on its £1.6 billion consortium acquisition with PAI of United Biscuits
• Blackstone on the public takeover of Celanese with an overall transaction value of €3.1 billion
• Carlyle on the takeover of Freeport, and a number of disposals in the real estate sector
• Cinven and Warburg Pincus on the acquisition of Casema and Essent Kabelcom (@Home)
• Cyrte on its MBO of RDF Media Group plc and, as part of a consortium with Goldman Sachs, Mediaset and Telecinco, its acquisition of Endemol
• the seven global investment banks providing bridge equity on KKR's takeover of Alliance Boots
• London & Regional Properties on its public takeover of Next Generation Fitness Clubs and acquisition of David Lloyd Leisure, and on related consortium arrangements with the Bank of Scotland
• Providence Equity Partners on the acquisition of Canal Digitaal
• the management of McCarthy & Stone on its MBO backed by the Bank of Scotland

•Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus on their $3.4bn bid for Interactive Data Corporation (2010)
• Three Delta on its secondary buyout of Care Principles from 3i
• Investcorp on a number of acquisitions
• BAA on:
-its £15.6 billion takeover offer from Ferrovial and a competing bid from a Goldman Sachs-led consortium
-the establishment of its £800 million fund, jointly with Morely Fund Management, to hold the portfolio of BAA's non-operational airport property assets
-the establishment of the Heathrow Express service
• AOL Time Warner in relation to the proposed combination of its Warner Music Division with the music businesses of EMI Group
• Foster's Group on the sale to Scottish & Newcastle of the Foster's brand in Europe and elsewhere
• JJB Sports on its restructuring, refinancing, company voluntary arrangement and £100 million placing and open offer
• Magenta Partners on a UK leveraged buyout
• Virgin Group on the £1.17 billion recommended offer by NTL for Virgin Mobile with associated quadruple play brand licence

Accolades
"This corporate department has taken strides in recent years [and] made many headlines in transactional mandates of late, such as advising on EDF's £12.5 billion takeover of British Energy. “A fabulous counsel on the gamut of corporate life,” Gareth Roberts provided strategic and corporate governance advice to corporate clients such as BG Group, RREEF and Virgin."
Chambers & Partners, 2010

“This firm's reputation in private equity continues to grow in tandem with its involvement in more complex and intricate work”
Chambers UK 2010

“…always knows what we want in a deal and when we need it”
Chambers UK 2009

“… increasingly assertive in the market, competing for important mandates from leading clients and impressing commentators with its ‘speedy responses and high-quality work’ ”
Chambers UK 2009

Key responsibilities
• Expected to lead and negotiate transactions with limited supervision
• Responsible for drafting discrete pieces of legal advice for clients with minimal amendments
• Encouraged to adopt a client-facing role
• Supervise and develop Junior Associates and Trainees


Qualifications required
• 3 - 4 years PQE (England and Wales)
• Excellent academics
• Private equity transactional experience

Work based competencies
We would expect the successful candidate to have a minimum of 3 years experience in private practice.

Technical
• Legal ability - detailed grasp of complex legal concepts, excellent drafting skills, ability to see issues from a commercial perspective and able to communicate complex legal advice to clients effectively
• Delivering excellent client service - excellent communications skills, driven to deliver to clients promptly, sets themselves challenging goals and resilient in achieving them


Client
• Finding and winning - able to build relationships with clients, identifies opportunities and networks effectively internally
• Practice/firm promotion - acts as an ambassador for the firm, writes technical articles for publication
• Developing and retaining - works to become a trusted advisor to the client, aware of client industry dynamics, works closely with the Business Development Team


People
• Leadership and management - acts as role model to others, provides coaching to those more junior than themselves
• Initiative and managing change - resilient in the face of multiple priorities, able to deliver difficult messages, takes ownership for resolving problems pro-actively
• Teamwork and communication - seeks out the views of others, assured and succinct in communication
• Impact and personal development - proactively requests feedback from others, able to deal with constructive criticism and takes ownership for self-development
Firm
• Financial performance - familiar with key drivers of firm performance
• Risk management and professional ethics - takes responsibility for personal and professional ethics, understanding of reputational risk and the regulatory framework, prepared to seek advice where appropriate
• Knowledge management - shares knowledge with others proactively, consults with senior technical experts where appropriate
• Firm contribution - high level of personal integrity, contributes to developing a diverse and innovative culture, prepared to go the extra mile


Behavioural competencies
• Ability to use initiative and be pro-active;
• Strong organisational skills and ability to prioritise;
• Excellent attention to detail;
• Enthusiastic, positive and committed team member;
• Ability to cope with conflicting demands and meet deadlines;
• Attention to detail with a high level of accuracy;
• Communicates effectively at all levels, both verbally and written;
• Promotes a collegiate environment, good team morale and a spirit of co-operation;
• Team player.