International law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner has announced the appointment of Simon Beddow as the new corporate deputy departmental managing partner. Beddow will be based in BCLP’s London office.
A highly experienced and respected M&A and corporate finance lawyer, with extensive management experience and a long track record of winning business, Beddow is recognised as a leading individual for M&A by the Legal 500 in the category of $250 million and above.
Beddow joins the firm from Ashurst, where he was managing partner of their London office. During his more than 20 years as a partner at Ashurst, he also held a number of other senior management roles including as global co-head of corporate and managing partner, Frankfurt and Munich
As deputy departmental managing partner, Beddow will work closely with Peter Van Cleve, departmental managing partner, in overseeing a corporate team of more than 450 lawyers, including over 160 partners, across BCLP’s offices in the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia.
The firm has a strong Corporate Practice and has regularly ranked in the top 15 for the number of US M&A deals. Clients include Aviva, Blackstone, BT, DXC, Emerson, Energizer, National Grid, Playtech, Terex and Travelex. Recent deal highlights include advising:
CBRE Global Investors on the creation of its new CBRE UK Affordable Housing Fund
Playtech on its acquisition of approximately 70.6 percent of the issued share capital of Snaitech for €846 million
Secure Income REIT on its acquisition of two substantial portfolios of assets for £436 million
Jadestone Energy on an institutional placing to fund an acquisition and admission to AIM
BCLP Co-Chair Lisa Mayhew said: “At the time of our merger, we said that we would enhance our corporate team in London and hiring someone of Simon’s calibre clearly demonstrates this. One of his priorities will be to consider which further additions we wish to make.”
Van Cleve said: “Simon is a critical addition to our global Corporate Practice. With his wealth of knowledge as a practitioner and his extensive experience of building collaborative teams, I am very confident that BCLP’s reputation for M&A and corporate finance work will only continue to grow.”
Beddow said: “I am delighted to be joining BCLP at such an exciting time following the recent merger. The opportunity to help build a leading global Corporate Practice, within the firm’s chosen markets and sectors, was a key driver for me when deciding to make this move.”