Matthew Barrett advises strategic and private equity clients on acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures, and platform investments. He has a particular focus on complex, cross-border M&A and in advising U.S. clients on their investments into Europe. He advises across multiple industries, including industrials, telecommunications, technology/SaaS (software as a service), aerospace and defense, student accommodation, and logistics. He has particular experience in the real assets sector, having worked for many years with infrastructure and private equity real estate fund managers.
Matthew recently completed a secondment with a major private equity-backed data center owner, operator, and developer and has hands-on experience in the sector.
His selected representations include advising: Goldman Sachs and Wellcome Trust on the £4.66bn disposal of iQ Student Accommodation to Blackstone and Goldman Sachs on the original £2.2bn merger with Wellcome Trust; MARK Capital on the €1.585bn sale of its pan-European last mile logistics platform to Prologis; American Industrial Partners on its sale of Europe's largest primary aluminium smelter to Aluminium Bahrain; Macquarie on its acquisition and financing of Ziton A/S, a maintenance provider for large offshore wind turbines; J.F. Lehman, a U.S. mid-market private equity firm, on the sale of the Global Marine Group, a subsea telecom maintenance and installation services provider, to Keppel Infrastructure Fund; TransDigm on its sale of Technical Airborne Components, an aerospace components designer and manufacturer, to Searchlight Capital Partners; Lyft on its acquisition of Gett UK, one of London's leading ride-hailing apps; and L Brands on its joint venture with Next PLC to operate the Victoria's Secret business in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Experience
- BPP Law School (Legal Practice Course 2015; Graduate Diploma in Law 2014); University College London (B.A. in History 2013; A.C. Grayling Prize for British History)
- Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales