Thomas Barker is an English qualified of counsel who works across the London and Dubai offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He is a member of the firm’s Capital Markets, Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity and Technology Transactions Practice Groups.
Thomas has a broad practice advising clients, including listed companies, financial institutions and private equity houses, on a range of corporate matters. His experience covers mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, equity issues, public offerings, restructurings and corporate governance, with a particular focus on cross-border transactional work.
He has a particular focus on the technology, media and telecommunications sector advising clients on complex corporate and commercial transactions (including with respect to novel areas such as the ‘metaverse’ and Web3 technology). Thomas also has significant experience in the private equity industry, advising clients such as Bridgepoint, Electra Private Equity, GMT Communications Partners and HgCapital in Europe and North America and Fajr Capital, Gulf Capital, Investcorp and Jadwa in the MENA region on a variety of matters throughout the investment life cycle including acquisitions, disposals, re-financings and bolt-on transactions.
Thomas is recognised by The Legal 500 2024 for Equity Capital Markets – Mid-High Cap and ranked as a Notable Practitioner in Mergers and Acquisitions 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*:
- e& on the creation of a joint venture with G42 to which e& and G42 contributed their respective data centre offerings in the United Arab Emirates.
- e& on its collaboration with HTC to design and develop a white-labelled metaverse platform to be known as “e& universe”.
- 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.
- ADNOC on the award of a 10% interest in the onshore oil concession (ADCO) to Total.
- 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).
- 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.
*Includes experience prior to joining Gibson Dunn.
Capabilities
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Capital Markets
- Emerging Companies / Venture Capital
- 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