Jonathan Blake
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- Work +44 20 7111 2317
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Work Department
Corporate (specialising in private equity).
Position
Jonathan Blake heads the private equity funds team at SJ Berwin, and is also senior partner of the firm. He joined the firm in 1982, the year of its foundation, and has been a partner at SJ Berwin since 1983. Jonathan is passionate about private equity and, since becoming senior partner in 2006, he has carved a role that enables him to continue with a close involvement with the private equity industry alongside his responsibilities as senior partner. In April 2004, Jonathan was admitted to the BVCA Hall of Fame in recognition of his contribution to the private equity industry over the past two decades. This was a nomination by the whole of the private equity industry under the auspices of the BVCA, and was voted on by 500 of the most prominent people in the UK private equity industry. Jonathan is the first adviser ever to be given this tribute, with the Hall of Fame numbering only five people. Jonathan was named global lawyer of the year for private funds by ‘The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers’. In October 2006, Jonathan was named as one of the 30 most influential lawyers in global private equity by the highly regarded industry journal ‘Private Equity International’. Jonathan has been included in the 2008 edition of ‘Who’s Who’, the leading reference book which contains biographies of noteworthy and influential individuals. In 2007, Jonathan was included in ‘The Lawyer’’s Hall of Fame. Jonathan has been actively involved with a large number of the funds, especially in the structuring and early stages, and has most recently advised clients including Apax Partners, Macquarie, Intermediate Capital Group and Terra Firma.
Career
Qualified 1979; partner SJ Berwin 1982. Former Chairman of the Tax and Legal Committee of the (European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association) in which capacity he produced and edited several publications on venture capital related matters across Europe. In April 2004, Jonathan was admitted to the BVCA ‘Hall of Fame’ in recognition of his contribution to the private equity industry over the past two decades. This was a nomination by the whole of the private equity industry under the auspices of the BVCA and was voted on by 500 of the most prominent people in the UK private equity industry, and Jonathan is the first adviser ever to be given this tribute. The Hall of Fame numbers only five people. In April 2005, Jonathan was named global lawyer of the year for Private Funds by The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers.
Languages
French.
Member
Tax and Legal Committee of the European Venture Capital Association.
Education
Cambridge University (MA; LLM); Chartered Institute of Taxation (AT11).
Leisure
Family, theatre, skiing.
Practice Areas
Corporate finance; Investment funds; M&A
