Ivor Gwilliams

Ivor advises on the full range of employment law issues, both contentious and non-contentious. He has extensive experience advising on the employment aspects of a wide variety of private equity, M&A and outsourcing transactions, as well as restructuring schemes and IPOs.

Ivor has been recognised for his employment law expertise by Chambers UK where he is a “noted expert in transactional employment concerns” and praised by clients as “exhibiting sound judgement in highly sensitive situations” and for his “phenomenal commitment” and ability “to succinctly explain problems and outline different approaches”.

Representative experience includes advising on the employment aspects of:

• Ongoing advice to various private equity and corporate clients, including on the recruitment and dismissal of senior executives and investment professionals across Europe
• Willis Towers Watson plc on its proposed all-share merger with Aon plc
• Equiniti Group on its initial public offering and listing on the London Stock Exchange
• KPMG as joint administrators in the special administration of MFG UK
• Advent International on numerous transactions, including recently on: the acquisition of a co-controlling stake in Planet Payment Group; the acquisition of Hoist Group; and the acquisition of cosmetics brands bareMinerals, BUXOM and Laura Mercier (collectively, n/k/a Orveon) from Shiseido Americas Corporation.
• Bain Capital on a number of transactions, including recently on: the acquisition of Valeo Foods; the acquisition of a 60% stake in Kantar Media from WPP plc; and on the take-private of esure Group plc
• Wejo Limited, a connected vehicle data business, on its $1.1 billion business combination with Virtuoso Acquisition Corp., a SPAC sponsored by Virtuoso Sponsor LLC
• OMERS Private Equity on a number of transactions, including recently on: the acquisition, with Partners Group, of International Schools Partnership; acquisition of V.Group and subsequent sale; the acquisition and subsequent sale of Civica; and on the acquisition of Alexander Mann Solutions
• Sanofi’s exchange of its animal health business for the consumer healthcare business of Boehringer Ingelheim
• Lone Star on its take-private of McCarthy & Stone plc
• Numerous SPAC deals including Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corporation II on its merger with Paysafe Group
• Gores Group in its joint venture agreement with Premier Foods in the Hovis business
• CVC Capital Partners on the acquisition of RiverStone Europe from Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited
• General Atlantic and portfolio companies: the acquisition and sale of MeteoGroup; Depop and its selling shareholders on the sale of the company to Etsy for $1.625 billion; and Howden Group (formerly Hyperion Insurance Group) on its acquisition of Aston Lark.
• NEOGEN Corporation, a developer and marketer of comprehensive solutions dedicated to food and animal safety, in its pending $5.3 billion combination with the Food Safety business of 3M, a provider of testing products used to monitor allergens, pathogens and contaminates in food manufacturing processes.