Gareth’s practice covers all direct taxes, stamp duties and value added tax with a strong focus on corporation tax. He has extensive experience of corporate transactions, including, in particular, public and private M&A (domestic and cross-border) and group reconstructions.
He also has significant expertise on private equity transactions, for example advising Blackstone on a £100m strategic minority equity investment in HH Global, on the acquisition by HH Global of Adare International Holdings Limited and an investment in Ki, the first fully digital and algorithmically-driven Lloyd’s syndicate.
Other highlights include advising:
- UKAR on a number of transactions including its £15bn sale of Northern Rock to Cerberus and redemption of its Granite securitisations
- Standard Life on its merger with Aberdeen Asset Management to create Standard Life Aberdeen plc, and then the merged group on the £3.24 billion sale of its insurance business to Phoenix Group
- Ocado Group on its IPO, its partnership with Morrisons, its online grocery retail joint venture with Marks and Spencer Group and recent three-legged capital raise comprising a share placing to institutional investors, a share offer to retail investors via the PrimaryBid platform and an offer of convertible bonds to institutional investors
- Ørsted on the disposal of a 50% interest in the Hornsea 1 offshore wind farm to Global Infrastructure Partners for c.£4.46bn
- Daily Mail and General Trust plc on the US$7.0 billion business combination of Cazoo with the AJAX 1 SPAC
- Cineworld on a number of transactions including its US$5.8bn acquisition of Regal Entertainment Group
Clients praise Gareth for “his practical suggestions on how best to resolve complex issues quickly” (Legal 500, 2021), stating that “responsiveness and clear advice are the hallmarks of his service” (Chambers, 2021). He is ranked for corporate tax in Chambers.
Gareth writes regularly for tax publications, is a member of the Tax Committee of the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association and is on the consultation board for LexisNexis Tax PSL.