Image of Karla Dudek

Karla Dudek

Counsel

Email

karla.dudek@aoshearman.com

Phone

+44 20 7655 5661

Offices

London

V-CARD
Karla has extensive experience working with clients in a number of industry sectors on a broad range of corporate transactions including public and private mergers and acquisitions, equity capital market transactions (acting for issuers, underwriters and selling shareholders), joint ventures, restructurings and share buybacks.
She regularly works for multinationals on cross border transactions and has a particular focus on financial institutions.

Experience

Representative matters

  • Institut Mérieux SA (IM) on its sale of ABL Europe SAS to Oxford Biomedica plc (listed on the premium segment of the Main Market) for consideration shares and IM’s relationship as a major shareholder of Oxford Biomedica.
  • A major financial institution on its acquisition of Kensington Mortgage Company Limited, Kensington Mortgage Services Limited and a portfolio of UK mortgages.
  • A specialist lender in wind-down on the sale of its UK first charge and second charge mortgage portfolio to a challenger bank.
  • A captive bank of a car manufacturer on the sale of its Nordic captive auto finance business to Santander.
  • A captive bank of a car manufacturer on its exit from the provision of retail auto financing in 12 European jurisdictions and entry into forward co-operation agreements with BNPP, Santander, Bank Now and UniCredit.
  • PerkinElmer Inc. on its takeovers of each of Oxford Immunotec Global plc, Horizon Discovery Group plc and Immunodiagnostic Systems Holdings plc.
  • Circet, a leading European telecom network service provider, on its acquisition of Qube GB.
  • A Bahrain incorporated company and its shareholders on their acquisition of minority shareholding interests in two Bahraini incorporated pharmaceutical companies.
  • A major financial institution on the divestment (by way of auction) of three separate mortgage and loan portfolios in Italy: a salary secured loan portfolio; a SME secured loans and mortgages portfolio; and an unsecured personal loans, credit cards and overdraft facilities portfolio.
  • Ingredion on its public takeover of PureCircle.
  • Paysafe on its EUR1.1 billion acquisition of Skrill, £450 million rights issue and step-up to the main market.
  • Lynwood Investments on the sale of the retail bookseller business, Waterstones, to a Bidco Elliott Advisers UK Private Equity Fund.
  • Lloyds Banking Group and Scottish Widows on the acquisition of Zurich’s UK workplace pensions and savings business.
  • Canaccord Genuity (as nomad and financial adviser) on the AIM IPO of GBGI Limited (an insurance distributor and underwriter).
  • Agratas Limited (a subsidiary of Tata Sons) on their plans to establish a global battery cell gigafactory in the UK with a capacity to produce 40 GW of cells annually. The investment of over £4 billion, will deliver electric mobility and renewable energy storage solutions for customers in UK and Europe.
  • SABMiller plc in respect of various potential brewery acquisitions in Eastern Europe.
  • SABMiller plc in respect of matters related to the €2.55 billion disposal of its Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime businesses to Japanese brewer Asahi (in connection for AB In-Bev takeover).
  • SABMiller plc on the acquisition of the Sparks and Steel Reserve businesses in California from The McKenzie River Corporation.
  • SABMiller plc on the acquisition of craft brewer Meantime Brewing Company.
  • The British Council on the sale of its IELTS business in India to IDP Education.
  • ExxonMobil on the sale of its North Sea assets to Apache North Sea Ltd.
  • Citi Infrastructure Investors on its acquisition of a majority stake in DP World’s Australian shipping terminal operator business.
  • A bidder in respect of the proposed acquisition of an English company owning a UK combined heat and power plant.
  • West of England P&I Club on its investment in Astaara (a Guernsey insurance services business).
  • Mylan N.V. (now Viatris) on the sale of a portfolio of European pharmaceutical products to Actavis Group PTC ehf (part of the Teva group).
  • A listed UK financial services company on the auction disposal of a significant underwriting subsidiary.

Pro bono

  • Advising The Felix Project on its acquisition of FareShare’s London operations.
  • Advising Conscious Ventures Limited (Green Spark) in implementing an investment round.
  • Advising Moree (Bulkify) in respect of various founder documents and support in preparation for a fundraising round (as part of the Green Tech Legal Collaborative).
  • Advising Global Generation on the update of its constitutional documents.
  • Legal assistance for an applicant seeking a protective injunction, working with the National Centre for Domestic Violence.

Published Work

  • Dudek. K, (2018) “UK Private Company Director: Complying with SPA Notice Provisions”, Corbett Keeling
  • Dudek. K, (2017) “UK Private Company Director: Do you Know your Braganza Duty?”, Corbett Keeling
  • Dudek. K, (2016) “UK Chapter of Directors’ Liability: A Worldwide Review” (3rd Edition), Wolters Kluwer

Qualifications

Admissions

Solicitor, New Zealand, 1995

Solicitor, England & Wales, 2000

Academic

Bachelor of Commerce, The University of Auckland, 1992

Bachelor of Law (Honours), The University of Auckland, 1997

Languages

English
Disclaimer
A&O Shearman was formed on May 1, 2024 by the combination of Shearman & Sterling LLP and Allen & Overy LLP and their respective affiliates (the legacy firms). Any matters referred to above may include matters undertaken by one or more of the legacy firms rather than A&O Shearman.