Leon Daoud

Since joining Kirkland, Leon’s representative matters include advising:

• Inmarsat and its controlling consortium on the $7.3 billion combination with Viasat, Inc.
• Cobham on the c. £2.57 billion recommended all cash acquisition of Ultra Electronics Holdings plc
• Blackstone on the financing of its acquisition of Bourne Leisure, a leader in the UK domestic holiday market operating through three brands: Butlin’s, Haven and Warner Leisure Hotels
• Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc. on its £1.08 billion sale of The Priory Group to Waterland Private Equity
• Montagu Private Equity on the acquisition of the Education Software Solutions business of Capita plc. and on the agreement to invest in ParentPay
• Allied Universal on the financing for a recommended £3.8 billion cash offer for G4S
• CPP Investments on the acquisition of an additional minority stake in Visma, a leading provider of business-critical software, in a transaction valuing the business at an enterprise value of $12.2 billion
• Advent International on its investment in the Hermes Group businesses in the UK and Germany
• Warburg Pincus on its co-investment in the combined group of Tilney Smith & Williamson, a leading wealth management and professional services business
• Warburg Pincus on its investment in Polyplus, a developer of innovative and cost-effective technology used in gene and cell therapy
• Atnahs Pharma on the acquisition of established hypertension medicines from AztraZeneca
• Warburg Pincus on the sale of Accelya, a leading global provider of financial, commercial and analytics solutions to the airline and travel industry, to Vista Private Equity
• FNZ Group on the agreed takeover of GBST, an ASX-listed financial software company
• Triton on the acquisition of a majority stake in Atnahs, a specialty pharmaceutical business
• Blackstone on the recommended £4.77 billion cash offer for Merlin Entertainments, a global leader in location-based, family entertainment
• A consortium consisting of Apax, Warburg Pincus, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan on the $3.4 billion take private of Inmarsat, a British satellite communications group
• Blackstone Capital Partners on its acquisition of National Exhibition Centre Group, a leading live events venue operator in the UK
• Triton on its acquisitions of Sunweb Group and Corendon Holiday Group, two leading European online travel operators
• Bristol-Myers Squibb on the offer from Taisho Pharmaceutical to purchase the UPSA consumer health business for $1.6 billion

Prior to joining Kirkland, Leon’s representative matters included advising:

• CVC Capital Partners on the acquisition of Theramex
• Goldman Sachs on a bridge to high yield bond refinancing for Almaviva SpA
• Advent International on the acquisition of Faerch Plast
• Warburg Pincus on the acquisition of a minority stake in Avaloq
• CVC Capital Partners on the acquisition of Tipico
• Warburg Pincus on the acquisition of Reiss
• Mercator, a portfolio company of Warburg Pincus, on the acquisition of RMS
• Tilney Bestinvest, a Permira portfolio company, on the acquisitions of the Towry and Ingenious financial services groups
• Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic on the joint acquisition of a minority stake in Network International LLC
• CVC Capital Partners on the acquisition of Douglas
• CVC Capital Partners on the acquisition of Synsam Nordic
• Warburg Pincus and Poundland on a post-IPO facility for Poundland’s listing on the London Stock Exchange
• Advent International on the take-private acquisition of Mediq
• CVC Capital Partners on the acquisition of Ahlsell

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, London

• Senior Associate, 2016–2018

• Associate, 2011–2016