Richard Smith > Slaughter and May > London, England > Lawyer Profile
Slaughter and May Offices
ONE BUNHILL ROW
LONDON
EC1Y 8YY
England
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Richard Smith
Work Department
Capital Markets
Corporate and M&A
Equity Capital Markets
Financial Regulation
Industrial Products and Services
Infrastructure and Energy
Position
Partner; Richard is co-head of our Corporate and M&A Group. His principal areas of work are in public and private M&A, joint ventures and equity capital markets work.
Career
Joined firm 2001. Partner since 2010.
Lawyer Rankings
London > Corporate and commercial > Equity capital markets – mid-large cap
(Leading partners)Slaughter and May is home to a ‘strong team, from partner through to associate level’ and is known for its ardent issuer-side focus on the full spectrum of complex ECM transactions. Supporting early stage UK companies, particularly those arising out of the technology sector, is a core pillar of the group’s practice. Rebecca Cousin leads the team, focusing on equity raises, right issues, placings, and IPOs. Co-head of corporate and M&A Richard Smith and highly experienced ECM lawyer John Papanichola are other key names within the practice group.
London > Corporate and commercial > M&A: Upper Mid-Market And Premium Deals, £750m+
Operating across a host of sectors including TMT, healthcare, construction, oil & gas and insurance and with unrivalled experience advising listed companies on M&A as well as activism defence work, Slaughter and May’s M&A team is ‘absolutely first class on all matters’. With a growing roster of top name clients and with more than 70% of its mandates last year involving an international element, the team is regularly called in to advise on blockbuster deals such as GSK’s demerger of Haleon. The practice is co-headed by public and private M&A partners Simon Nicholls , who is described as ‘outstanding’ and ‘exceptional’ for his complex work for clients such as GSK and Diageo, and Richard Smith, whose clients include Aviva, Equinix and The Walt Disney Company. Senior partner Steve Cooke offers particular experience in takeover bids and other stock exchange related work, while data privacy expert Rebecca Cousin handles public and private M&A, initial public listings, equity issues and joint ventures. Roland Turnill , who will replace Cooke as senior partner in 2024, co-heads the financial institutions group and has recently been involved in advising Vodafone on its merger with Three. ‘Top tier lawyer’ Paul Dickson and the ‘exceptional’ Sally Wokes are noted for their broad corporate practices, handling public takeovers, joint ventures and private M&A for domestic and international clients, listed and unlisted. Victoria MacDuff continues to have a wide-ranging corporate practice, advising on M&A deals and disposals, equity capital market transactions, reorganisations and joint ventures, with a particular focus on cyber security and the financial services and telecoms sector. Also recommended are: Claire Jackson, a life sciences, healthcare and insurance specialist; Andrew Jolly, who heads the sport team and, the ‘enthusiastic, energetic and relatable’ Robert Innes, who co-heads the tech transactions group. James Cook, Harry Hecht and Alexander Dustan are other key lawyers. Formerly senior figures within the team, Andy Ryde and Jeff Twentyman have retired.
Lawyer Rankings
- Leading partners London > Corporate and commercial > Equity capital markets – mid-large cap
- M&A: Upper Mid-Market And Premium Deals, £750m+ London > Corporate and commercial
- Equity capital markets – mid-large cap London > Corporate and commercial
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Finance > Bank lending: investment grade debt and syndicated loans
- Dispute resolution > Banking litigation: investment and retail
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: premium
- Real estate > Commercial property: corporate occupiers
- Dispute resolution > Competition litigation
- Corporate and commercial > Corporate tax
- Employment > Employee share schemes
- Corporate and commercial > EU and competition
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Infrastructure: M&A and acquisition financing
- Insurance > Insurance: corporate and regulatory
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > IT and telecoms
- Corporate and commercial > M&A: Upper Mid-Market And Premium Deals, £750m+
- Employment > Pensions (non-contentious)
- Risk advisory > Regulatory investigations and corporate crime (advice to corporates)
- Dispute resolution > Tax litigation and investigations
Firm Rankings
- Corporate and commercial > Commercial contracts
- Real estate > Commercial property: development
- Finance > Corporate restructuring & insolvency
- Finance > Debt capital markets
- Corporate and commercial > Equity capital markets – mid-large cap
- Corporate and commercial > Financial services: contentious
- Corporate and commercial > Financial services: non-contentious/regulatory
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Fintech
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Infrastructure: Project finance and development
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Oil and gas
- Employment > Pensions: dispute resolution
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Power (including electricity, nuclear and renewables)
- Industry focus > TMT
- Real estate > Commercial property: investment
- Real estate > Construction: non-contentious
- Finance > Derivatives and structured products
- Employment > Employers
- Real estate > Environment
- Crime, fraud and licensing > Fraud: civil
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Industry focus > Life sciences and healthcare
- Investment fund formation and management > Listed funds
- Finance > Securitisation
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Sport
- Finance > Acquisition finance
- Insurance > Insurance and reinsurance litigation
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Intellectual property: trade marks, copyright and design
- Real estate > Property finance
- Industry focus > Retail and consumer
- Real estate > Planning
- Corporate and commercial > Private equity: transactions – high-value deals (£250m+)