Thomas Barker is an English qualified associate based in the Dubai office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.  He is a member of the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions, Capital Markets and Private Equity Practice Groups.

Mr. Barker has a broad practice advising clients, including listed companies, financial institutions and private equity houses, on a range of corporate matters. His experience covers public and private mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, equity issues, public offerings, restructurings and corporate governance, with a particular focus on cross-border transactional work.

Mr. Barker has extensive experience in the private equity industry, advising clients such as Arcapita, Fajr Capital, Gulf Capital, Investcorp, Jadwa and The Olayan Group in the MENA region and Bridgepoint, Electra Private Equity, GMT Communications Partners and HgCapital in Europe and North America on a variety of matters throughout the investment life cycle including acquisitions, disposals, re-financings and bolt-on transactions.

Mr. Barker is ranked as a Notable Practitioner in Mergers and Acquisitions for the UAE by the IFLR1000 2022 edition.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. Barker was a corporate associate based in the London and Abu Dhabi offices of a major international law firm. Mr. Barker also spent six months seconded to Acacia Mining plc during which time he focused on exploration license renewals, potential asset disposals and general corporate governance matters.

Selected M&A experience advising*:

• 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.
• Moby Group in connection with the sale of BeMedia’s free-to-air television business in Ethiopia operated under the “Kana” brand to Canal +.
• 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 Investment Company.
• Arcapita with respect to the acquisition of a majority stake in NuYu.
• GE Power on the sale of its Distributed Power business to Advent International for $3.25 billion.
• Gulf Capital on its investment in Emirates Auction LLC.
• ADNOC on the award of a 10% interest in the onshore oil concession (ADCO) to Total.
• Engie on the sale of its 40.5% stake in Paiton, an Indonesian power asset, to Nebras Power and Mitsui.
• Topaz Energy and Marine on a minority equity investment from Standard Chartered PE for $75 million.
• 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.
• CMC Biologics on its acquisition by Asahi Glass Co. from various shareholders, including Monitor Clipper Partners, European Equity Partners and Innoven Partenaires.
• The Rohatyn Group on the sale of its 34.42% stake in Prometheon Holdings (UK) Limited to an investment vehicle managed by SSG Capital Management.
• Bridgepoint on the acquisition of Moneycorp in a transaction with an enterprise value of £212 million.

Selected Capital Markets experience advising*:

• Trustpilot Group on its £1 billion London Stock Exchange listing and IPO.
• Emirates NBD on the £2.2 billion London Stock Exchange listing and IPO of Network International (a subsidiary of Emirates NBD).
• 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.