London—Dentons, the world’s largest global law firm, has hired an M&A partner into its UK Corporate practice.

James Vernon is experienced in both public and private M&A, joint ventures, corporate governance and corporate advisory work. He focuses on premium mid-market work covering international cross-border M&A for major corporates, private equity and institutional investors, and is an expert in public company takeovers. James joins from Eversheds Sutherland where he was a legal director in the corporate department, having previously practised at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

‘James’ experience of complicated, cross-border deals working with multi-disciplinary teams in multiple jurisdictions aligns exactly with the “Golden Thread” pillar of our five-year strategy, which is about supporting corporates across practice areas, sectors and geographies,’ said UK, Ireland and Middle East CEO Paul Jarvis.

‘Bringing in an experienced M&A partner so early in the year demonstrates the seriousness of our intent to support our clients on their most complex matters, as we anticipate increasing activity for domestic and cross-border M&A at the premium end of the mid-market in the year ahead,’ said Head of UK Corporate Neil Nicholson.

Recent deals for Dentons’ UK Corporate practice include advising:

• Astorg, a leading private equity group, on its acquisition of a majority stake in Avania from Kester Capital.
• Toronto Stock Exchange listed Chorus Aviation Inc. on the acquisition of Falko Regional Aircraft Limited (‘Falko’) for approximately USD$855 million.
• Capita plc on the sale of Trustmarque to One Equity Partners.
• CompareTheMarket owner BGL Group on the sale of BGL Insurance to Markerstudy.
• Private equity firm KSL Capital Partners on its acquisition of a stake in the eight-strong rural boutique hotels group The Pig Hotels.
• Mike Ashley’s St James Holdings Limited on the sale of Newcastle United FC in addition to acting on the arbitration for NUFC against the Premier League.

About Dentons

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