Thomas Barker is an English-qualified Of Counsel based in Gibson Dunn’s London office. He is a member of the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity, Technology Transactions, and Capital Markets Practice Groups.
Thomas advises listed companies, financial institutions, and private equity funds on complex cross-border transactions. His broad corporate practice covers mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, equity issues, public offerings, restructurings and securities law advice.
Thomas has a particular focus on the TMT and Digital Infrastructure sectors advising clients on high-value corporate and commercial matters. He also has significant experience in private equity, advising sponsors such as Blue Owl, Lone Star and Brookfield in Europe and North America and Fajr Capital, Gulf Capital, Investcorp, and Jadwa in the MENA region.
Thomas is recognised by The Legal 500 UK 2024 for Equity Capital Markets – Mid-High Cap, and is ranked as a Notable Practitioner in M&A for the UAE by the IFLR1000 2022 edition.
Thomas read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the University of Oxford before completing the Graduate Diploma in Law at BPP Law School and the Legal Practice Course at Kaplan Law School.
Selected M&A experience advising*:
- Blue Owl Digital Infrastructure on its disposal of seven European colocation data centre assets to Apollo.
- e& on its exit from the Khazna Data Center joint venture with G42 for approximately $2.2 billion.
- e& on its collaboration with HTC to design and develop a white-labelled metaverse platform to be known as “e& universe”.
- e& on the creation of a joint venture with G42 to which e& and G42 contributed their respective data centre offerings in the UAE.
- ePLDT on the potential sale of certain data centre assets in the Philippines.
- Stonepeak and MIESCOR on the combination of their joint venture (MIDC) with a joint venture between Macquarie Capital and Global Network Inc (PhilTower) to create one of the largest independent telecommunications towers companies in the Philippines.
- Americana on a joint venture with REEF Technology to open and operate cloud kitchens across the Middle East offering Americana, REEF and third party brands.
- Jadwa Investment Company and United Eastern Group on the sale of their respective stakes in United Eastern Medical Services, a UAE-based healthcare group, to Mubadala Healthcare.
- Fajr Capital and Blackstone on the sale of a significant minority stake in GEMS Education to funds led by CVC Capital Partners.
- Polymath Holdings on the sale of its stake in Amana Healthcare to Mubadala.
- Gulf Capital on its investment in Emirates Auction.
- GE Power on the sale of its Distributed Power business to Advent International for $3.25 billion.
- Engie on the sale of its 40.5% stake in Paiton, an Indonesian power asset, to Nebras Power and Mitsui.
- ZZ Capital International on its investment in Building Energy, a global, vertically integrated, multi-technology IPP operating in the renewable energy industry.
- GMT Communications Partners with respect to the sale of MeetingZone to LoopUp Group plc which constituted a reverse takeover under the AIM Rules.
Selected Capital Markets experience advising*:
- ADNOC Gas on its $50 billion Abu Dhabi listing and IPO.
- Trustpilot Group on its £1 billion London listing and IPO.
- Emirates NBD on the £2.2 billion London listing and IPO of Network International (a subsidiary of Emirates NBD).
- Agility on the proposed London and Dubai listings and IPO of Tristar Transport (a subsidiary of Agility).
- THG on certain capital fundraisings by way of placings, subscriptions and a retail offer (acting for the banks).
- AO World on its capital raising by way of a cashbox placing.
- Sophos Group on the placing of shares by Dr. Peter Lammer and Dr. Jan Hruska raising $582 million, in connection with the takeover offer by Thoma Bravo.
- Fairfax Africa on its investment in Atlas Mara, an African-focused financial services institution listed on the London Stock Exchange, through a firm placing and open offer for ordinary shares and mandatory convertible bonds which converted into ordinary shares on closing of the open offer.
* Includes experience prior to joining Gibson Dunn.
Capabilities
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Capital Markets
- Data Centers and Digital Infrastructure
- Financial Institutions
- Media, Entertainment, and Technology
- Private Equity
- Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance
- Technology Transactions
Credentials
Education:
- Kaplan Law School - 2013 Legal Practice Course
- BPP Law School - 2012 Graduate Diploma in Law
- University of Oxford - 2010 Bachelor of Arts
Admissions:
- England & Wales - Solicitor