About
Ed works with leading business and investors on complex, cross-border deals. He advises senior lawyers and their CEOs and CFOs on practical solutions that drive results.
Ed focusses on technology transaction drawing on his experience of being seconded to the US HQ of a leading technology company as its M&A GC. His tech clients include one of the biggest West Coast HQ-ed tech companies, Lenovo, Relx, Octopus Energy and Multiverse. Ed has also worked for global Financial Services institutions (eg HSBC, LSEG, Sompo Holdings, Meiji Yasuda, and Deutsche Bank) on multiple bank and insurance business acquisitions and disposals.
Ed helps clients succeed when their ambitions require novel, creative legal solutions or touch on governments. For example, he is assisting Heathrow Airport with financing its expansion. He led the team supporting the first airport privatization in Japan. He led the work for EDF on the restructuring and financing of the Sizewell C project. Ed has also done many spin off transactions for clients evolving their businesses (such as the spin of Kraken from Octopus Energy).
Private Capital clients get Ed’s support with their global investing. He leads our relationship with one of the leading global sovereign wealth funds and does a range of M&A, co-investment and VC investments for them. Similarly, he works regularly for and across from Private Equity investors in both private and public market transactions.
The clients Ed...
- Advising Deutsche Bank on the disposal of its prime finance business to BNP Paribas.
- Advising Knorr-Bremse on its acquisition of Hitachi’s integral power steering business for commercial vehicles.
- Advising Interoute, the owner-operator of one of Europe’s largest networks and a global cloud services platform, on its acquisition by the leading global cloud-networking provider GTT Communications for €1.9bn.
- Advising Lenovo on its PC joint ventures with NEC and Fujitsu.
- Advising the Japanese state owned New Kansai International Airport Company on the privatisation of Osaka and Kansai international airports. Read more about the deal in our case study
- Advising CVC on the acquisition of TechnoPro, the largest engineering staffing business in Japan.
- Advising the underwriters on the issue by SoftBank of its $4.5bn subordinated notes.
- Advising Etex on the sale of its UK roofing tiles business (Harley Ltd) to Inflexion.
- Advising Citizen Watch on its acquisition of Switzerland-based Prothor, a leader in the field of high-quality mechanical movements and components for the mechanical watch industry.
- Advising Sompo Japan Insurance on its acquisition of insurance businesses in the UK, Brazil and Turkey.
Edward Cole
100 Bishopsgate
London EC2P 2SR