Matthew Bennett | People | Baker McKenzie

Biography

Matthew is a senior associate in the Corporate team in Baker McKenzie's London office. He is a member of the Firm's M&A Practice Group, as well as its Consumer Goods & Retail (CG&R) Industry Group and it's Corporate Governance working group. Matthew was seconded to BP's Integrated Supply and Trading division based in Canary Wharf, London for six months in 2017.

Practice Focus

Matthew's practice focuses on cross-border and domestic M&A and joint ventures, as well as advising on intra-group reorganisations and providing corporate governance and maintenance advice, primarily for clients active in the consumer and pharmaceutical sectors.

Representative Legal Matters

Advised Puig on its acquisition of a majority stake in Charlotte Tilbury, the iconic British luxury makeup and skincare brand.
Advised Unilever on a series of large scale transactions, including its acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline's Health Food Drinks portfolio in India, Bangladesh and 20 other predominantly Asian markets, and its acquisition of the home and personal care business of Quala in Latin America.
Advised Unilever on a series of regional divestments including the disposal of its Bertolli branded pasta sauces, pesto and mayonnaise business in Continental Europe to Enrico-Glasbest, a Dutch manufacturer and supplier of premium and speciality food products, and the divestment of its direct application laundry business in Central America to Industria La Popular, a Guatemalan-based home and personal care company.
Representing numerous US and European corporations, with a particular focus on FMCG clients, on their exit from the Russian market, including advising on: multiple transaction structures (including bilateral MBOs and auction processes); both "friendly" and "unfriendly" transactions; governmental commission strategies; seizures of target businesses by the Russian Government in the context of a live M&A process.
Advised Embracer Group on a series of acquisitions, including its USD 137.2 million acquisition of Flying Wild Hog, a developer of PC and console games, and its USD 765 million of Easybrain Limited, a leading mobile games developer, and its USD 300 million acquisition of Square Enix's western studios, developer of games such as Tomb Raider and Deus Ex.
Advised Siemens on multiple acquisitions including Process Systems Enterprises Limited, a technology-leading global supplier of software and services for advanced process modelling and Senseye, a leading provider of AI-powered solutions for industrial machine performance and reliability.
Advised McDonald's on multiple bi-lateral transactions and a series of joint venture transactions in the UK.
Advised Novo Nordisk in connection with its acquisition of a UK based biotechnology firm, Ziylo Ltd, with a potential value of USD 800 million.
Advised multiple clients on the design and implementation of new board and governance structures across their group structures.

Admissions

England & Wales (2017)

Education

University of Law (LPC) (2015)
University of Law (GDL) (2014)
University of Southampton (BA History) (2013)

Languages

English