What has been your deal highlight over the last 12 months and why?
2021 was a monumental year for White & Case’s EMEA financial services M&A practice, and for me personally. In 2021, our London M&A team advised on > $25bn of financial services M&A deals and I advised on my 65th financial services M&A matter. My highlights included representing The Co-operative Bank on its £3.2bn bank balance sheet re-calibration exercise and representing Nordic open banking platform provider Tink, on its €1.7bn sale to Visa.
What do you think are the key skills you need to succeed as a lawyer operating at the top of the public M&A markets now?
The three skills I value most are:
- Putting the client first. Clients have their own internal stakeholders and competing demands on their time. The simple question ‘what would work best for you?’ goes a long way.
- Deep understanding of the market. Legal capability is taken as a given for any senior lawyer within any top law firm. The hallmark of an exceptional lawyer is the ability to digest a client’s needs and mould legal building blocks.
- • Resilience. Not every pursuit or idea will yield a successful result. It takes fortitude to not lose heart. Request feedback and learn for the next opportunity.
What are your top tips for those looking to become M&A partners?
- Love what you do. Passion is infectious. When you genuinely share your clients’ enthusiasm for their industry and commercial objectives, they will notice and it will filter into the advice you deliver.
- Become an industry expert
- Do not be afraid to ask questions, and really listen to the answers. It is better to ask and risk appearing foolish, than to assume incorrectly and make foolish mistakes.
- Be yourself, and support others to be themselves. M&A is a team sport. When everyone feels confident and supported, the team as a whole will far exceed the sum of its parts.
- Play to your strengths. Never promise a client or a colleague something you are not sure you can deliver.