Mr Shawn Atkinson > Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP
107 CHEAPSIDE
LONDON
EC2V 6DN
England

Work Department

M&A and Private Equity
Technology Companies Group

Position

Partner

Career

As Europe’s premier tech business advisors, Shawn and his team have overseen several hundred venture financings, private equity buyouts and M&A transactions over the course of the last decade. Leading venture capital and growth funds, private equity, and high-growth tech companies rely upon his unsurpassed industry knowledge as much as his relentless commitment to their business.

In addition to sheer volume of deals, Shawn’s incomparable market insight stems from his leadership roles at Orrick, the only global firm focused on technology, and his experience working throughout the UK & Europe, North America and Asia. Shawn leads Orrick’s London Corporate practice, its Global Emerging Markets practice and co-leads the Global Fintech team and the Global Technology Companies Practice Group. These complement his practice serving public and private companies in UK multi-jurisdictional and complex corporate transactions, including countless acquisitions and disposals, cross-border mergers, bankruptcy infused asset sales, recapitalisations and reorganisations. He is also a recognised leader in late stage venture transactions and in early stage private equity transactions in Europe and the emerging markets.

Shawn also advises early stage businesses across a number of sectors – including insurtech, Fintech, Crypto, SaaS, EdTech, HRTech, Marketplace and EnergyTech. He assists them from incorporation through to M&A exit, initial public offerings and other growth opportunities. His participation in the private equity and venture capital sector spans his entire career – with time spent in private practice, in-house and advising investors as well as investor-backed businesses-and affords him a deep knowledge and understanding of the industry and client needs and expectations.

Among the leading investment funds he has represented are ABN Amro Ventures, Acton Capital Partners, ABRY Partners, Accel Partners, Apax Partners, Bain Capital, Balderton Capital, Battery Ventures, Beringea, Bessemer Venture Partners, Black Pearls VC, Black Sheep Ventures, BMWi Ventures, Coatue Management, Columbia Capital, CommerzVentures, Evolvence, FTV Capital, Golden Gate Capital, Stepstone Group, Headway Capital Partners, Innova Capital, Kinnevik, KPS Capital Partners, Marlin Equity Partners, Mangrove Capital Partners, M/C Partners, One Peak, Oxx, Pearson Ventures, Piper Private Equity, Piton Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Sprints Capital, Summit Partners, Updata Partners, VNV Global and VEF.

Languages

English

Education

Nottingham Law School, Legal Practice Course
Nottingham Law School, PGDL
University of Oxford, Diploma, Archaeology
McMaster University, B.A., Anthropology and Archaeology

Leisure

Punk rock

Lawyer Rankings

London > Corporate and commercial > Venture capital

(Leading individuals)

Shawn AtkinsonOrrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP

London > Corporate and commercial > M&A: Lower Mid-Market Deals, £100m-£750m

(Leading individuals)

Shawn AtkinsonOrrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP

Working with several leading companies and investors and widely lauded for its experience in cross-border technology M&A transactions across the UK, Europe and the US, the highly praised team of lawyers at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP is ‘incredibly knowledgeable, diligent and personable’ and always willing to ‘go the extra mile.’  The ‘outstanding’ Shawn Atkinson leads the team. Noted as ‘second to none’ and for her ‘attitude, demeanour and pragmatism,’ Katie Cotton – a specialist in the technology, energy and infrastructure sectors – regularly assists corporates and investors on an array of transactions. The ‘excellent’ James Connor regularly handles public company takeovers and private M&A, while Daniel Wayte has a breadth of experience in private equity transactions as well as M&A, joint ventures and corporate governance work. Other key lawyers include Katrina Walsingham and Charles Sheldon.