Scott C. Hopkins

Mr. Hopkins has advised on deals with an aggregate value of over $300 billion, including five of the 20 largest matters in the U.K. market over the last decade. He is recognised as a leading M&A lawyer by Chambers Global and Chambers UK, in which he is described as “an outstanding lawyer to have by your side,” with sources stating “his expertise was irreplaceable for us.” He also is recommended as Highly Regarded in M&A in IFLR1000 and Who’s Who Legal, and is listed in the Hall of Fame of The Legal 500 UK, which has noted his “‘strategic mind’ and ‘sharp insight.’” He was the only lawyer to rank in the top 10 of U.K. dealmakers (Mergerlinks) in both 2020 and 2021, having also previously been ranked second in mergermarket’s table of dealmakers targeting U.K. companies. Mr. Hopkins also is a member of the firm’s Japan practice and frequently lectures on M&A-related topics, including at Oxford University’s Said Business School.

His M&A experience includes representing:

• Central Group and SIGNA Holding GmbH in their US$5.3 billion acquisition of Selfridges & Co. Limited from the Weston Family;
• Raymond James in its £278.9 million acquisition of Charles Stanley;
• Gyroscope Therapeutics Limited in its acquisition by Novartis AG for US$800 million upfront and additional milestone payments of up to US$700 million;
• Globalworth Real Estate Investments Limited in a US$1.88 billion unsolicited bid to acquire the company by two of its major shareholders, CPI Property Group S.A. and Aroundtown S.A.;
• Fortiana Holdings Limited in connection with its US$1.5 billion acquisition of Highland Gold Mining Limited, an AIM-quoted gold producer, comprising an initial US$585 million acquisition of a 40% interest, the U.K.’s first-ever preconditional mandatory bid for the remaining stake, delisting and compulsory squeeze-out of minority shareholders; and its pre-conditional mandatory offer to acquire Trans-Siberian Gold plc;
• Worldpay in its $43 billion merger with FIS;
• Waypoint GP Limited, an investment fund created by the Bertarelli family, in its acquisition of the remaining stake in Stallergenes Greer plc that it did not already own; and its previous €730 million take-private acquisition of Stallergenes Greer plc;
• Willis Towers Watson in its proposed US$30 billion acquisition by Aon plc;
• Sophos Group plc with the U.S. aspects of its proposed US$3.9 billion acquisition by Thoma Bravo, LLC;
• Nightstar Therapeutics plc in its US$800 million acquisition by Biogen Inc.;
• CME Group Inc. in its US$6 billion acquisition of NEX Group plc;
• Toto Wolff in his acquisition of a significant minority stake, and his position as CEO and team principal, in Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd., the company operating the Mercedes F1 team;
• the independent directors of Dana Incorporated in the company’s proposed but terminated US$6.1 billion merger with the Driveline division of U.K.-based GKN plc;
• International Paper Company in its unsolicited US$10.7 billion proposal to acquire Dublin-headquartered Smurfit Kappa Group plc;
• Morgan Stanley as senior lender and financial advisor to Global Business Travel Holdings Limited in its £400 million acquisition of Hogg Robinson Group plc;
• Vantiv, Inc. in its US$10.4 billion acquisition of Worldpay Group plc;
• Goldman Sachs as the financial advisor:
  • to the transaction committee of the board of directors of Reynolds American in its US$49 billion acquisition by British American Tobacco;
  • on the cash confirmation banks were required to provide under U.K. takeover rules in relation to Michael Kors’ US$1.2 billion acquisition of luxury shoemaker Jimmy Choo;
  • to Kennedy-Wilson Holdings, Inc. in its £1.5 billion merger with Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate Plc; and
  • to Bain Capital, along with Cenkos Securities plc and Dean Street Advisers Limited, in the £1.2 billion acquisition of esure Group plc;
• Janus Capital Group Inc. in its US$6 billion all-stock merger of equals with Henderson Group plc;
• J.P. Morgan as financial advisor to Sumitomo Corporation in its €751 million acquisition of Ireland-based produce company Fyffes plc;
• Globalworth Real Estate Investment Limited, the largest owner of office space in Romania, in a €200 million subscription by Growthpoint Properties and Oak Hill funds, valuing the company at €1.4 billion;
• Toshiba in connection with the filing of voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code by Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates;
• Ball Corporation in its US$8.4 billion acquisition of Rexam PLC;
• Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd. in its US$5.3 billion acquisition of Amlin plc;
• Nikkei Inc. in its US$1.3 billion acquisition of Financial Times Group Ltd. from Pearson plc;
• J.P. Morgan Securities LLC as financial advisor to Equinix, Inc. in its US$3.6 billion acquisition of Telecity Group plc;
• XL Group plc in its US$4.2 billion acquisition of Catlin Group Limited;
• AbbVie Inc. in its proposed £32 billion acquisition of Shire plc;
• Destination Maternity in its proposed £266 million acquisition of Mothercare;
• Pfizer in its proposed US$115 billion acquisition of Astra-Zeneca;
• EnergySolutions in its US$1.1 billion acquisition by a subsidiary of private equity firm Energy Capital Partners II, LLC;
• AIM-listed R.G.I. International Limited on its response to a US$340 million mandatory cash offer by Direct Finance LLC;
• Nike, Inc. in its US$240 million sale of Umbro;
• Upsher-Smith Laboratories in its US$550 million offer for Proximagen Group plc;
• Colfax Corporation in its US$2.4 billion offer for Charter International Plc;
• News Corporation in its US$11.5 billion proposed acquisition of the remaining stake it did not already own in British Sky Broadcasting Group plc;
• Francois-Charles Oberthur Fiduiciare S.A. in its £900 million proposed offer for De La Rue Plc;
• Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc. as financial advisor to The Thomson Corporation in its US$17.2 billion business combination transaction with Reuters Group PLC to be effected through a dual-listed company structure;
• Toshiba Corporation in its US$5.4 billion acquisition of Westinghouse Electric Company from British Nuclear Fuels plc;
• Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. in its US$183.6 million acquisition of a 99.4 percent stake in TGE Marine AG and in its US$165 million sale of Mitsui Babcock Energy Limited;
• Prof-Media in its acquisition of 54 percent of Rambler Media Limited, the first takeover of a Russian company listed in London;
• Honeywell International, Inc. in its US$555 million takeover of First Technology PLC, and the subsequent sale of the FT Plc crash test dummies business to Hg Capital;
• Macquarie Bank Limited in its US$2 billion acquisition of Norway-based Dyno Nobel ASA, a commercial explosives company;
• Doughty Hanson & Co Ltd. in the US$1.5 billion sale of Dunlop Standard Aerospace Group to Meggitt plc and The Carlyle Group;
• The AES Corporation in the establishment of a joint venture company to hold power and desalination assets in Oman, Qatar and Pakistan and a sale of a minority interest in that company; and
• The AES Corporation in the sale of two independent power projects in Bangladesh.

In 2010, Mr. Hopkins returned to Skadden from secondment to the U.K. Takeover Panel. During his two years at the panel, Mr. Hopkins regulated more than 200 transactions governed by the U.K. Takeover Code.