With more than 15 years in practice, Ben Chouka has advised a variety of U.S. and international clients in private and public M&A and private equity transactions as well as venture capital and growth equity financings. Ben's practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, cross-border transactions, restructurings, and corporate governance matters. He represents public companies, middle-market private companies, and start-up companies alike and is most active in the technology (including software, semiconductor, and fintech), health care, life sciences, and energy industries. Ben's representative clients include Astellas Pharma, NerdWallet, Five9, SAP, KKR, Western Digital, Skyworks Solutions, Sumitomo Pharma, Hilti Group, Organon & Co., Meridian Bioscience, Minted, TotalEnergies, Dignity Health, Singtel, Sempra Energy, AGIC Capital, Triton Partners, E.ON, and ThyssenKrupp.
Ben also maintains an active pro bono practice, assisting nonprofits in their corporate governance matters.
Prior to joining Jones Day, Ben was a senior M&A associate at an international law firm in Düsseldorf, Germany, where he was a member of the private equity sector group. During his more than five years with this firm, he advised public companies, private equity funds, and large family-owned businesses on cross-border M&A transactions and strategic alliances in Europe and the United States. Ben complemented his international experience with a client secondment in the M&A department of a major international financial institution in Dubai, where he advised from the in-house perspective on mergers and divestitures in various Middle Eastern jurisdictions.
Experience
The following represents experience acquired prior to joining Jones Day.
Advised Triton Partners, a pan-European private equity fund, on: the acquisition of global recycling specialist BEFESA from the Spanish-listed energy and environment technology company ABENGOA S.A. with a total transaction value of more than €1 billion; the acquisition of Dywidag Systems International (DSI), the global market leader in post-tensioning control systems, from Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Barclays, and CVC; and the sale of Dunkermotoren, a group of companies engaged in the engineering and manufacturing of precision motion control solutions, to NYSE-listed AMETEK for more than €250 million.
Advised ThyssenKrupp AG, a German-listed steel and technology company, on various cross-border transactions, including the disposal of their civil shipyard and repair activities to Star Capital Partners, a U.K.-based private equity investor.
Advised E.ON SE, the leading German utility, on the sale of 5,000 MW generation capacity to various major European utility players, including GDF Suez, Électricité de France, and EnBW.
Advised Knauf, a privately held global building materials company, on various transactions, including the acquisition of the European ceiling grid and compound business from NYSE-listed USG Corporation.
Advised Waterland Private Equity on the acquisition of a majority stake in Ranger, a German-based leading provider of direct sales services in Europe, from its founders, and the subsequent add-on acquisition of Omnigroup B.V., a direct sales services provider based in The Netherlands.
- University of California, Los Angeles (LL.M. 2015, with a focus on securities regulation; Masin Family Academic Excellence Award); Second State Exam (bar exam equivalent, Düsseldorf, 2008); First State Exam (J.D. equivalent, Ruhr University Bochum, 2005)
- California and Germany (Düsseldorf Bar Association)
- Regional Court, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (2005-2007)
- German