Mr Sebastian Rice > Akin > London, England > Lawyer Profile
Akin Offices
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Mr Sebastian Rice
Work Department
Partner; Cross-Border Transactions
Position
Sebastian Rice is the partner in charge of Akin’s London, Geneva and Hong Kong offices. Mr. Rice’s practice focuses on providing advice on cross-border mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions.
Career
Prior to joining Akin, Mr. Rice spent four years at an international law firm, where he acted on a large number of substantial corporate deals. Mr. Rice also worked in-house at 3i Group plc, the private equity and venture capital house, as a legal advisor to its European investment teams.
Mr. Rice regularly speaks at conferences in the UK, Russia and other republics of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). He speaks Russian and Italian.
To learn more about Mr Rice, please visit his full profile: https://www.akingump.com/en/lawyers-advisors/sebastian-rice.html
Education
B.A., University of Exeter, England, with honors, 1993
Lawyer Rankings
London > Corporate and commercial > Private equity: transactions - mid-market deals (up to £500m)
Praised as ‘a great team‘ which ‘really knows the market‘, Akin works with a wide range of UK and multinational sponsors and management teams. Practice head Shaun Lascelles regularly handles cross-border transactions, and is noted for his expertise in energy sector deals and capabilities in emerging markets such as Africa and Eastern Europe. Co-head Sebastian Rice draws on more than 20 years of experience advising on deals concerning various foreign markets, while the ‘excellent’ David Sewell, who is praised for his ‘amazing ability to deal with complex issues and structures quickly and efficiently’, is a key contact in the team for secondaries and fund structuring matters. Simon Rootsey is well-regarded for his sector-specific expertise, which is chiefly concentrated in the energy, infrastructure and life sciences sectors. Jing Ng and Chris Beardmore support clients on domestic and cross-border transactions. Stephen Rosen joined from Cooley (UK) LLP in September 2024, while Gavin Weir left the practice to join Ashurst in January 2024.
London > Corporate and commercial > M&A: Lower Mid-Market Deals, £100m-£750m
With extensive experience handling cross-border M&A transactions, the corporate practice at Akin is highly adept to assist international businesses on both public and private multijurisdictional mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, investments, and buy-outs. Co-leading the group are Sebastian Rice and Shaun Lascelles – Rice concentrates on M&A, joint ventures, disposals, and restructuring deals for private equity firms, asset managers, energy companies, and corporates, while Lascelles has expertise leading on high-value cross-border M&A, private equity, and international joint ventures. He is predominantly instructed by private equity firms, infrastructure investors, and corporates. Another notable name in the team is Simon Rootsey who focuses on cross-border M&A, private equity, and investment transactions in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. He has deep knowledge of a range of industry sectors including infrastructure, healthcare, and technology. Stephen Rosen, Justin Stock and David Bresnick joined the team from Cooley in July 2024.
Lawyer Rankings
- Private equity: transactions - mid-market deals (up to £500m) London > Corporate and commercial
- M&A: Lower Mid-Market Deals, £100m-£750m London > Corporate and commercial
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Finance > Corporate restructuring & insolvency
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Mining and minerals
Firm Rankings
- Investment fund formation and management > Hedge funds
- Finance > Debt capital markets
- Corporate and commercial > EU and competition: trade, WTO anti-dumping and customs
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Infrastructure: Project finance and development
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Oil and gas
- Corporate and commercial > Private equity: transactions - mid-market deals (up to £500m)
- Investment fund formation and management > Private funds
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Renewables
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: premium
- Corporate and commercial > Financial services: contentious
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Corporate and commercial > M&A: Lower Mid-Market Deals, £100m-£750m
- Finance > Bank lending: investment grade debt and syndicated loans
- Dispute resolution > Banking litigation: investment and retail
- Corporate and commercial > EU and competition
- Corporate and commercial > Financial services: non-contentious/regulatory
- Crime, fraud and licensing > Fraud: civil
- Corporate and commercial > Corporate tax