Sam Whittaker advises clients on a range of complex corporate matters, particularly private equity transactions. Mr. Whittaker’s practice includes mergers and acquisitions, divestments, co-investments, joint ventures, take-privates, restructuring, management equity arrangements and a variety of portfolio transactions. He regularly advises prominent global private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds, alternative asset managers and other investment firms.

Mr. Whittaker is listed in The Legal 500 UK for both M&A and private equity. He has also been recognized by Law.com International as a Private Equity Rising Star. Clients have described him as “super bright and hardworking” and “a pleasure to work with.”

Prior to joining Dechert, Mr. Whittaker was a partner in the private equity group at another global law firm.

  • Experience includes:
    • ARK Invest in connection with the acquisition of Rize ETF Limited.
    • GIC in connection with its investment in the Quantexa group.
    • Leif Höegh & Co. Ltd. and funds managed by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners through a 50/50 joint venture vehicle to acquire the shares in Höegh LNG Holdings Ltd.
    • L Catterton on its agreement to acquire a majority stake in BIRKENSTOCK Group.
    • Blackstone on various transactions, including the: recommended £4.77 billion cash offer for Merlin Entertainments, a global leader in location-based, family entertainment; acquisition of the business and assets of Murka, a developer and promoter of social casino gaming applications for mobile devices and social media; and acquisition of Aon plc's technology-enabled benefits and HR platform for approximately US$4.8 billion.
    • GIC on various transactions.
    • BC Partners on its acquisition of a majority stake in United Group, a leading media and communication services provider across Southeast Europe, from KKR.
    • Triton Partners on various transactions, including the acquisition of European travel operators, Sunweb and Corendon Group.
    • EQT on various transactions, including the combination of Independent Vetcare (IVC) and Evidensia to create Europe’s largest veterinary care group and the sale of Automic Software to CA Technologies.
    • 3i Group on various transactions, including its acquisition of Q Holding Company, the medical devices group.
    • Sycamore Partners on various transactions.
    • Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation on its sale of Roxanne Laboratories Inc. to Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC for approximately US$2.65 billion.
    • Oaktree Capital Management on various transactions, including: the sale of The Student Housing Company group in the UK to a consortium of GIC and GSA; the sale of its Spanish student housing business to GSA; and its investment in Ainscough Cranes.
    • Gazit-Globe Limited on various transactions, including its recommended cash offer for Atrium European Real Estate Limited, valuing Atrium at €1.4bn.
    • Node, the co-living group, in respect of its joint venture with Intriva Capital.
    • Travelport on various transactions, including its acquisition by Siris Capital and Evergreen Coast Capital.
    • Murray Energy Holdings Co. in connection with the corporate and M&A aspects of their Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court.
    • Apax Partners on its acquisition of 3M’s electronic monitoring business.
    • TowerBrook on the sale of a minority stake in the TowerBrook group to Wafra.
    • Sterigenics International on its acquisition of REVISS Services.
    • Genpact on the formation of its KYC services joint venture with Markit.
    • Victory Park Capital on the £200 million initial public offering of VPC Specialty Lending Investments PLC on the London Stock Exchange.

    Includes matters handled at Dechert or prior to joining the firm.