Biography
Oliver advises clients on tax issues principally relating to corporate transactions, with particular focus on:
- private equity and general corporate M&A transactions and reorganisations;
- corporate restructurings;
- complex equity incentive arrangements;
- finance arrangements, debt and equity capital markets; and
- VAT planning.
Oliver is also regularly involved in tax cases before the English and European Courts, and led the tax aspects of various landmark cases, including Littlewoods v HMRC, one of the largest money judgements in English history.
Oliver is recommended for Corporate Tax and Tax Litigation by Legal 500 UK, where he is noted for his “extensive experience in handling a broad range of transactions in the corporate M&A and private equity space” and described as being “thoughtful and responsive”.
Representative experience includes advising:
- Advent International on numerous transactions, including recently on:
- the acquisition of a co-controlling stake in Planet Payment Group;
- the acquisition of Hoist Group;
- portfolio company Laird on the carve-out and sale of its
- Connectivity division;
- Performance Materials division to DuPont for $2.3bn; and
- Thermal Systems divisions to Bregal
- portfolio company Cobham on the carve-out and sale of its:
- Mission Systems division to Eaton Corporation plc for $2.83bn;
- Aerospace Connectivity division to TransDigm Group Inc. for $965m;
- Aviation Services UK division to Draken International (a portfolio company of Blackstone);
- Slip Rings division to Naxicap; and
- Microwave division to FCDE
- portfolio company Transaction Services Group on the merger with Clearent (also a portfolio company of Advent International) to form Xplor Technologies
- 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;
- the take-private of esure Group plc; and
- portfolio company Kantar on the:
- acquisition of Numerator from Vista Equity Partners;
- the carve-out and sale of its Health division to Cerner Corporation; and
- various standalone tax matters
- CVC Capital Partners on the acquisition of RiverStone Europe from Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited
- General Atlantic on: the acquisition and sale of MeteoGroup; its investment in FNZ; and on its exit from Axel Springer Digital Classified; portfolio company Hyperion Insurance Group on its acquisition of RK Harrison and subsequently Hyperion on the $400m investment by CDPQ; and Depop and its selling shareholders on the sale of the company to Etsy for $1.625 billion
- Howden Group (formerly Hyperion Insurance Group) on: its acquisitions of A Plan and RK Harrison; the investments by CDPQ and Hg Saturn in Howden Group; and most recently on its acquisition of Aston Lark
- 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; the sale by Hayfin Capital Management of certain assets to The Future Fund; and on the acquisition of Alexander Mann Solutions
- Providence Equity on numerous European transactions, including recently on: its acquisition of Node4 Group; as selling shareholder and consortium member in the consortium's take-private of Masmovil Ibercom; and its acquisition of the shares in marketing services company Chime which were held by its co-investor WPP Group
- PSG on its acquisition of Sign In App
- PSP on a number of transactions, including recently on: the consortium acquisition of Nestlé Skin Health; its consortium acquisition of Axel Springer; its acquisitions of Keter Plastics and Azelis; and on the sale of Sky Aviation Leasing
- Securitas Direct and its core management team in connection with the restructuring of management’s equity following the acquisition of Bain’s interest in the group by Hellman & Friedman
- Sun European Partners on the acquisition of Sports & Leisure Group and on its sale of C&K Components to Littelfuse Inc.
- the seller of the iconic Ritz hotel in London
- VINCI on the acquisition of Gatwick Airport
Firm News & Announcements, Latest Thinking
Firm News & Announcements
- Weil Advises Newlight Partners LP on the Sale of Lit Fibre Deal Brief — March 15, 2024
- Weil Advises Sign In Solutions Inc on its Recommended Cash Offer for SmartSpace Software Plc Deal Brief — March 15, 2024
Latest Thinking
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UK Spring Budget 2024: Tax Update
Blog Post — Tax Blog
— By
Jenny Doak,
Aron Joy,
Oliver Walker,
Erica Rees and
Sean Wright
— March 07, 2024
On 6 March 2024, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered his Spring Budget. In the days preceding the Budget there had been mounting speculation that the Chancellor would cut personal taxes by reducing rates of income tax or National Insurance contributions (NICs). In the event, Chancellor Hunt did not disappoint and announced a further reduction in NICs,
The post UK Spring Budget 2024: Tax Update appeared first on Weil Tax BLOG.
... -
Labour’s Plans for Business Taxation
Blog Post — Tax Blog
— By
Oliver Walker and
Sean Wright
— February 19, 2024
As the next United Kingdom general election approaches, the Labour Party’s business tax proposals are beginning to take shape. On Thursday 1 February 2024, the Labour Party published a report entitled “Business Partnership for Growth”, timed to coincide with its Business Conference, where it was unveiled by the party leader, Keir Starmer, and his Shadow
The post Labour’s Plans for Business Taxation appeared first on Weil Tax BLOG.
... -
Chambers Expert Focus Weil Tax Insight Series: Navigating the Tax Landscape: Key Insights From UK Courts in 2023
Blog Post — Tax Blog
— By
Oliver Walker and
Erica Rees
— January 16, 2024
In this edition of the Chambers Expert Focus Weil Tax Insight Series, partner Oliver Walker and professional support lawyer Erica Reese provide a summary of some of the most significant UK tax decisions from 2023. ...
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UK AUTUMN STATEMENT 2023: TAX UPDATE
Blog Post — Tax Blog
— By
Jenny Doak,
Aron Joy,
Oliver Walker,
Kevin Donegan,
Enda Kerin,
Erica Rees,
Sean Wright and
Mila Kostadinova
— November 22, 2023
On 22 November 2023, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered his Autumn Statement, potentially the last such statement to precede the next UK general election.Despite mounting speculation over the past few days, there were no rabbits in the Chancellor’s hat, and today’s announcements were broadly in keeping with expectations. The headline items included the announcement that the current full expensing policy for businesses will be made permanent – a move which the Chancellor heralded as “the biggest business tax cut in modern British history” – and various changes to National Insurance contributions (NICs), including a reduction of the main rate and the abolition of Class 2 NICs for self-employed individuals. ...
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Court of Appeal upholds Euromoney share for share exchange
Blog Post — Tax Blog
— By
Oliver Walker and
Akash Mehta
— November 20, 2023
On Friday 3 November 2023, the Court of Appeal dealt a further blow to HMRC in the appeal of the Euromoney decision. HMRC had appealed from the Upper Tribunal, which found that an anti-avoidance rule did not preclude the deferral of corporation tax on a share for share exchange where consideration received for the sale of shares consisted of new shares (including a choice of preference shares specifically for tax avoidance reasons). The Court of Appeal dismissed HMRC’s appeal against the Upper Tribunal decision, and found that the taxpayer was entitled to the tax deferral because the exchange of shares (i) was entered into for bona fide commercial reasons, and (ii) as a whole did not have as a main purpose the avoidance of tax. ...