Seth has led our teams in advising clients on numerous strategic transactions, often involving public companies and is one of the leading advisers in the UK in this area. Seth was previously seconded as a partner to act as the Secretary of the UK Takeover Panel for two years, during which time he regulated many M&A deals and was heavily involved in formulating Panel policy and takeover rules. Seth brings this insight as well as his extensive deal experience in helping clients navigate the heavily-regulated environment for UK M&A and make the right tactical decisions in the course of their most important transactions.
His recent experience includes advising Network International on the £2bn recommended offer for the company by a Brookfield-led consortium, OpenText Corporation on its £5bn recommended offer for Micro Focus International plc, Sampo and RMI on their £1.6bn joint cash offer for Hastings Insurance, Prosus on its £5.5bn contested bid for Just Eat, 21st Century Fox on its contested £25bn bid for Sky plc, HarbourVest on its innovative £1bn hostile bid for SVG Capital, Sanlam on the offer for Nucleus Financial and on its pan-African insurance JV with a global financial services provider and Dorilton Capital on its acquisition of the Williams F1 team. Seth also advised Worldpay on its £8bn merger with Vantiv, and Earthport plc on the contested offers for the company. He regularly helps the boards of major companies with their strategic M&A, as well as bid and activist defence.
Seth’s clients include major UK and international companies, financial institutions and leading financial investors.
Seth advised Allen & Overy on its merger with Shearman & Sterling, to create one of the largest fully-integrated law firms in the world.
![Image of Seth Jones](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fedge.sitecorecloud.io%2Fallenoveryllp1-aoshearmanwe0db-production-ecf3%2Fmedia%2Fproject%2Faoshearman%2Faoshearman%2Fpeople-profile%2Fseth_jones_3003372_2026x1520.jpg%3Fh%3D854%26iar%3D0%26w%3D1366&w=1200&q=75)
Seth is a leading M&A partner and advises clients on the full range of corporate transactions, including some of the highest profile M&A situations in recent years.
Expertise
Industries
Experience
Representative matters
A multinational financial institution on its acquisition of Sainsbury’s Bank, comprising its personal loan, credit card and savings accounts.
Network International Holdings plc on the GBP2.2bn takeover offer by funds advised and/or managed by Brookfield and its consortium partners.
OpenText on its recommended USD6bn offer for Micro Focus plc.
Sanlam on its joint venture with a global financial services provider to combine their current and future operations across Africa to create the largest pan-African non-banking financial services entity on the continent.
RMI and Sampo on their joint venture and bid for Hastings Insurance.
Worldpay on the GBP8bn takeover offer by Vantiv, Inc.
Earthport plc on the handling of the contested bids made by Visa and Mastercard.
The P2P of AA by TowerBrook and Warburg Pincus.
Prosus on its hostile GBP4.9bn all-cash offer to acquire Just Eat, the UK-based international online food order and delivery service.
21st Century Fox on its GBP27.7bn competitive takeover offer for Sky and the subsequent GBP11.6bn sale of its 39% stake in Sky to Comcast.
HarbourVest on its GBP1bn hostile bid for SVG Capital and subsequent asset purchase.
Transdigm on its possible takeover offer for FTSE 100 aerospace and defence company Meggitt.
Sanlam on the disposal of its 52% stake in Nucleus Financial to James Hay.
Virgin Money on its merger with CYBG.
Private equity investors and UK listed companies on numerous P2Ps.
Allen & Overy on its merger with Shearman & Sterling.
Published Work
- Co-Author of "A Practitioner's Guide to the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers"
Awards
- Private equity deal of the year, IFLR Awards 2017, for HarbourVest's takeover of SVG Capital
- TMT deal of the year: Open Text Corporation’s offer for Micro Focus plc
Qualifications
Admissions