Luke Hackett
Biography
Luke is a senior associate in Baker McKenzie's Corporate Finance Department in London. He joined Baker McKenzie in September 2018 as a trainee solicitor and completed a secondment at Cobham PLC in 2019.
Prior to beginning his training contract, Luke worked in the Baker McKenzie Belfast Center as a member of the Corporate Support team, working on high-volume, large-scale projects, including e-discovery and M&A due diligence.
Practice Focus
Luke advises on a wide range of capital markets transactions and both domestic and cross-border acquisitions, with a focus on public-company work and corporate governance matters.
Representative Legal Matters
- Advised Alawwal bank on its USD 4.9 billion share for share merger with the Saudi British Bank.
- Advised PureCircle Limited on its GBP 185.3 million takeover offer from US-based food ingredients maker Ingredion Incorporated.
- Acted for The Olayan Group as a member of the consortium comprised of Olayan, Peel Holdings and Brookfield Property Group, in connection with the possible GBP 2.9 billion bid for intu, with the consortium also having been advised by Credit Suisse.
- Advised DS Smith plc on the GBP 45 million sale of its De Hoop paper mill in the Netherlands to De Jong Packaging.
- Acted for Yum! and/or its Pizza Hut and KFC brands on a number of material transactions over the years, including the exits from Russia in 2022 and in relation to multiple master franchising arrangements.
- Advised Gulf Oil International Limited, part of the Hinduja Group, on its acquisition of a further equity stake in Indra Renewable Technologies Limited, through a Series B fundraising.
- Advised Bank of Georgia Group plc on its USD 303 million class 1 acquisition of Ameriabank.
- Acted for Barclays as financial adviser on the GBP 5.1 billion offer by Open Text UK Holding Limited (a subsidiary of OpenText Corporation) for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Micro Focus International plc.
- Acted for Goldman Sachs International as financial adviser on the GBP 100m offer by Cerezzola Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Poltronesofà S.p.A. for ScS Gorup plc.
- Acted for Citi as financial adviser on the offer by Schneider Electric SE for all of the remaining shares in AVEVA Group PLC, valuing the equity at GBP 9.5 billion on a fully diluted basis.
- Advised Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA) on its USD 6.5 billion disposal of its Alliance Healthcare businesses, including the carve out and reorganisation of that business pre-sale.
- Acted for the initial purchasers in connection with the issuance by VTR Finance N.V. and VTR Comunicaciones SpA, subsidiaries of Liberty Latin America, of USD 550 million aggregate principal amount of 6.375% senior notes due 2028 and USD 600 million aggregate principal amount of 5.125% senior secured notes due 2028, respectively.
- Acted for the arrangers and dealers on the establishment of a USD 6.5 billion global medium-term note programme by VEON, a leading global provider of connectivity and internet services.
Admissions
- England & Wales (Solicitor)~United Kingdom (2019)
Education
- (L.P.C.) (2017)
- Queens University Belfast, Northern Ireland (LL.B.) (2015)
Languages
- English
Baker & McKenzie LLP, an English partnership, is a member of Baker & McKenzie International, a Swiss Verein.