
James Thompson
Biography
James Thompson has been a partner in Baker McKenzie’s Corporate Finance group in London since January 2016. Prior to this, he worked with two other multinational law firms and was based predominantly in London, but also variously in Sydney, New York and Singapore. James also worked in-house as a consultant to Barclays Bank PLC, sitting within the Principal M&A Legal team for six months.
James’ practice comprises a mix of EMEA equities capital markets, international mergers and acquisitions (both public and private) and general corporate advisory work. He has extensive experience in the FIG space and is active in a number of other sectors including Energy, Resources & Infrastructure, and Food & Beverage/FMCG across a range of developed and developing markets.
Practice Focus
Since moving from Sydney to London in 2007, James has been prolific in his work on equities capital markets transactions in EMEA, having worked on IPOs, rights issues, cash placings and ABBs in jurisdictions including London, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Estonia, Belgium, the Netherlands, South Africa and Warsaw, acting for issuers, selling shareholders and the underwriting banks. Issuers and selling shareholders value his proactivity and commerciality and banks his depth of knowledge and practical experience of a multitude of forms of underwriting and transaction structures, as well as the UK sponsor regime.
James has worked on high-profile public M&A transactions in a range of sectors and has deep blue-book expertise, having acted for international bidders seeking control of UK Takeover Code-governed companies, for UK targets and also as cash confirmation counsel to financial advisers across the City. He has also fulfilled the role of international counsel for both bidders and targets involving companies listed in other European jurisdictions. On the private M&A side, James has experience in emerging markets including many African, Eastern European and South East Asian jurisdictions.
Admissions
- England & Wales~United Kingdom (2008)
- New South Wales~Australia (2004)
Languages
- English