Event information
Sea Containers Events
18 Upper Ground, London SE1 9RQ
Please note this event is taking place at Sea Containers Events, separate from Sea Containers London Hotel.
The Legal 500 M&A forum will be held on 15 September, in association with Sullivan & Cromwell.
Bringing together leading in-house lawyers and advisers, the event will focus on dealmaking in a volatile world.
In a market shaped by economic uncertainty, geopolitical disruption and increasing regulatory scrutiny, GCs are playing a more strategic role than ever in driving successful transactions.
This event will explore how in-house teams can support corporate growth, manage execution risk and navigate evolving market dynamics across M&A and private equity transactions.
Through practical discussions and real-world insights, attendees will gain an up-to-date perspective on the key challenges influencing deal activity today—from running competitive auction processes and managing bidder dynamics, to adapting deal strategy and transaction terms in response to market volatility.
Who Should Attend?
This forum is designed for General Counsel, Chief Legal Officers, Heads of Legal and senior in-house counsel involved in M&A, private equity transactions and strategic investments.
The programme features two focused panel sessions followed by networking. Attendees will leave with practical, actionable insights, market intelligence and peer perspectives to help them navigate today’s complex deal environment with greater confidence.
Agenda
5.00pm-5.30pm Arrival
5.30pm-6.15pm Panel discussion: going, going, gone: running competitive auction processes
How GCs can navigate auction dynamics to maximise valuation and preserve deal certainty, including managing bidder tension, effectively using vendor due diligence and W&I insurance and deploying exclusivity strategically.
- Ben Perry, partner, Sullivan & Cromwell
- Kush Nanjee, managing director, PJT Partners
- Anne Sceales, head of W&I, managing director, Marsh McLennan
- Leigh Partridge, managing director, head of investment legal and head of legal, Europe, CPPIB
6.15pm-7.00pm Fireside chat: deal-making in a volatile world: The GC’s toolkit
How deal strategies and terms can adapt to economic and geopolitical instability, including the use of deal protection mechanisms and alternative consideration structures to bridge valuation gaps and preserve deal certainty.
- Jeremy Kutner, partner, Sullivan & Cromwell
- David Johnson, general counsel, First Quantum Minerals
7.00pm-8.00pm Networking reception
8:00pm Close
Speakers
Ben Perry, partner, Sullivan & Cromwell
Ben Perry practices primarily English law and advises on a wide range of transactions, in particular cross-border M&A and private equity. He is currently ranked as a leading individual for M&A and highlighted for private equity by The Legal 500 United Kingdom and ranked as highly regarded for M&A and private equity by IFLR 1000.
Ben was instrumental in the development of, and continues to oversee, the market-leading trainee solicitor programme in the London office. Ben was twice named “Best Training Principal” at the LawCareers.Net Training and Recruitment Awards.
Ben is also involved in the wider legal profession via the Law Society of England and Wales (the LSEW), which is the professional representative body for solicitors in England and Wales as a whole, and the City of London Law Society (the CLLS), which is the professional representative body for solicitors and law firms in the City of London. He is currently a member of the Education and Training Committee of the LSEW and of the Company Law Committee of the CLLS, and was previously a member of the Training Committee of the CLLS for over eight years and of the Main Committee of the CLLS for six years. In addition, he is a member of the committee overseeing the City Solicitors Horizons social mobility initiative.
Kush Nanjee, managing director, PJT Partners
Kush Nanjee is a Managing Director in the Strategic Advisory Group at PJT Partners, based in London.
Mr. Nanjee has extensive experience of advising corporate and financial sponsor clients across complex M&A and equity and debt capital markets transactions. He joined the firm in 2019 from the UK Advisory team at Credit Suisse. Mr. Nanjee has advised on over $95bn of M&A and capital markets transactions and was named as a Rising Star of Investment Banking in 2023 by Financial News.
Mr. Nanjee is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a Chartered Accountant. He received a BSc in Economics from University College London.
Anne Sceales, head of W&I, managing director, Marsh McLennan
Anne is head of W&I and a Managing Director in Marsh’s UK Transactional Risk practice.
Anne joined Marsh in 2015. Since joining the W&I market in 2014, Anne has advised on over 2,500 transactions with enterprise values ranging from $1 million to in excess of $30 billion. She has worked closely with a broad range of clients, including private equity funds and corporates across a diverse range of sectors including pharmaceutical, financial services, infrastructure, technology, retail, real estate and healthcare.
Jeremy Kutner, partner, Sullivan & Cromwell
Jeremy Kutner advises on corporate transactions, including public, private and cross-border M&A, joint ventures and restructurings for leading global companies, sovereign wealth funds, private equity funds and family offices. He works across a range of industries including financial services, FinTech, healthcare, mining and metals, private equity, food and beverage, and telecommunications.
Chambers UK and Legal 500 have recognized him as a leading lawyer and IFLR1000 has ranked him as a market leader in M&A and Private Equity. He was also twice named a Law360 Rising Star, was commended in the “Innovation in mergers and acquisitions” category by FT Innovative Lawyers Europe, named to the “40 Under 40 Rising Stars” list by Financial News and listed by Super Lawyers.
David Johnson, general counsel, FIrst Quantum Minerals
David Johnson is the General Counsel of First Quantum Minerals, a leading Canadian-listed copper mining company with operations spanning multiple continents, which he joined in 2025. Since joining, he has advised on multiple transactions including the acquisition of mineral concessions in Argentina to support First Quantum’s Taca Taca project, the sale of the Cayeli copper/gold mine in Turkey and the sale of Cobre Las Cruces in Spain. Prior to joining First Quantum, he spent almost a decade at CMOC Group Limited (formerly China Molybdenum Co.) where he served as both lead counsel for the company’s M&A activities and headed many of its ex-China legal activities. His experience spans major cross border transactions across Africa, Latin America, and other key mining jurisdictions giving him a unique perspective on how mining companies approach global investment.
Leigh Partridge, managing director, head of investment legal and head of legal, Europe, CPPIB
Leigh Partridge is currently Head of Legal, Europe at CPP Investments. Prior to joining CPP Investments in 2017, Leigh was a senior lawyer at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, where she spent more than ten years advising on public and private M&A and private equity. Leigh holds a LLB in Law from the University of Leeds and a Legal Diploma from Nottingham Law School. She is a qualified solicitor in England & Wales.
In association with
Sullivan & Cromwell is a leading global law firm that advises on major domestic and cross-border M&A, significant litigation and corporate investigations, finance and corporate transactions, and complex antitrust, regulatory, tax and estate planning matters. Our Firm’s hallmarks are the highest-quality independent advice and intense dedication to solving client problems. Founded in 1879 and headquartered in New York, S&C has more than 900 lawyers located in Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, New York, Palo Alto, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo and Washington, D.C.