Simon Lindsay was appointed Director General of the Takeover Panel on 2nd July, 2018.  Simon is on secondment from Citigroup where he was a managing director within UK Investment Banking and the head of UK M&A.  Simon has been an M&A-focused investment banker for almost 30  years and has focused principally on the UK since joining Schroders (subsequently forming part of Citigroup) in 1997.  During that time, he has worked on a wide range of transactions involving UK and Irish counterparties, including public takeovers, private acquisitions and disposals, IPOs and restructurings.

Naomi is a Director in Mergers at the Competition and Markets Authority.  Before joining the CMA in 2020, Naomi worked at a magic circle law firm for over 10 years.  She has also previously worked at NHS regulator NHS Improvement.

Mr. Pearce is a partner in Davis Polk’s Corporate Department, practicing in the London office. He advises corporate, private equity and investment banking clients on public and private mergers and acquisitions, takeovers and securities offerings and listings.
He also advises on corporate governance, shareholder activism and restructuring matters and corporate and securities law and regulation.
With over 20 years' experience of advising on the Takeover Code and the Listing Rules, he is one of a handful of law firm partners in the U.K. to be recognized as a leading lawyer for corporate/M&A and equity capital markets.

Sunny Mann is a Partner in London who leads our EMEA and UK International Trade Practice, which has been ranked Tier 1 by Legal 500 UK for over 20 years.  He also co-leads our UK Foreign Investment team. He is highly experienced in advising on the implications of foreign direct investment rules for cross-border transactions.  He led on the clearance of one of the very few deals to go through a full statutory national security review in the UK, which entailed close coordination with authorities in the UK and the US.  He has advised a range of multinationals on the implications of the UK National Security & Investment Bill and co-ordinated Baker McKenzie’s response to the UK Government Consultation. Sunny is a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe.  

Samantha Mobley is a partner in the EU, Competition & Trade Practice of Baker & McKenzie's London office and a member of the London office Management Committee. She headed Baker McKenzie's Global Antitrust and Competition Group, a team of over 300 competition and antitrust specialists worldwide for six years.

Samantha has significant experience of advising on complex multi-jurisdictional mergers and has a strong understanding of the importance of working effectively and strategically with global regulators. In addition to antitrust and merger control, she advises on the implications of foreign direct investment rules for cross-border transactions.  Samantha has advised a range of multinationals on the implications of the UK National Security & Investment Bill and co-ordinated Baker McKenzie’s response to the UK Government Consultation.

Adam co-leads Flint’s Markets and Investor Advisory practice. He provides political and policy advice to investors and corporate leaders, including on major transactions.

Before joining Flint, he was Head of Public Policy for Northern Europe at Uber and advised corporate leaders at Finsbury, a global consulting firm. Prior to that, he spent four years in 10 Downing St as a special adviser to the Prime Minister. At No10, he prepared the Prime Minister for PMQs each week, briefed Cabinet Ministers and helped to oversee government policy on all major issues. He also worked with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on economic policy. Earlier in his career he was Head of the Political Section in the Conservative Research Department.

Outside of Flint, Adam is Chair of Governors at the East London Science School.

Gavin is a senior corporate partner with 28 years' experience at Herbert Smith Freehills. He advises on public takeovers and shareholder activism situations, cross-border M&A, investments, and corporate governance. His clients include UK listed companies, multinationals and private capital. He has particularly strong sector experience in financial services, industrials, real estate and TMT.  Gavin regularly advises on matters involving complex or novel structures, contentious situations and regulated sectors. He has twice led teams winning Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Award, in 2009 and 2016.

He heads our Global M&A practice and is a member of the Board of our Firm. He also sits as an advisor on the UK Government Trade Advisory Group, and advises the Government of Sierra Leone on inbound investment on a pro bono basis. Gavin works with, and is a former Trustee and Chair of The International Lawyers Project, a leading international charitable organisation providing the skills of senior lawyers to promote human rights, sustainable economic development and the rule of law worldwide.

Chiomenti is a leader Italian Law Firm with an international outlook, with 8 offices in Italy, US, UK and China and approximately 300 lawyers. Mr. Frignani is a Partner in the Corporate and M&A Department since 2014, and since 2018 he is the Head of the London Office. Mr. Frignani assists Italian and foreign clients with corporate-M&A matters, and in particular with extraordinary transactions and matters relating to company law and business contracts, with a focus on deals involving strategic-industrial investors and private equity funds, and also in relation to listed companies operating in supervised or regulated sectors. He took his first LL.M. at WWU University of Muenster (Germany) and his second LL.M at University of Chicago Law School (USA), whilst he is French mother tongue and has earned a French Baccalauréat. Mr. Frignani is responsible for fostering International relationships of the Firm, and in such capacity he is one of the liaison partners for Lex Mundi and the European Network. Since 2018 he is director of Lex Mundi and an Officer of the European Regional Forum with the International Bar Association (IBA).

Gorrissen Federspiel is a leading Danish corporate law firm with approx. 290 lawyers and a total of 500 employees. Anders Ørjan Jensen co-heads the firm's Corporate/M&A practice where he advises listed companies, private equity funds and international clients, focusing primarily on mergers & acquisitions and capital market transactions. Anders also advises on corporate governance matters and securities law regulation. He is appointed member of the Association of Danish law firms' Expert Panel on Securities Law and is ranked among leading corporate lawyers in Chambers, Legal 500 and IFLR 1000.

Nimesh is a managing director in the UK Advisory business of the Investment Banking Division and head of Activism and Shareholder Advisory in EMEA. He joined Goldman Sachs in 2005 as an associate and was named managing director in 2011 and partner in 2020.

Prior to joining the firm, Nimesh worked at JP Morgan.

Nimesh earned an undergraduate degree from the London School of Economics.

Sarah is the Deputy Director for National Security and Investment and part of the leadership team in the Consumer and Competition Directorate in BEIS. She is currently leading a team to develop the policy and legislation for investment screening. She previously worked on consumer policy and prior to that worked extensively in energy policy, including oil and gas and low carbon technology. She has a degree in Environmental Science, a PhD in Isotope Geochemistry and a Master’s in public policy.

David leads ICAEW’s public policy engagement, including, most recently, on the UK’s National Security & Investment Bill. In December 2020, he gave evidence on behalf of ICAEW to the Public Bill Committee.
David initiated and led a task force of 22 leading business organisations, including the British Business Bank, to devise the Business Finance Guide. He has also led a high-profile initiative with HM Government, London Stock Exchange, the Takeover Panel, AFME and other organisations on Cyber Security in Corporate Finance.
Under David’s leadership, the Corporate Finance Faculty has grown to include more than 7,000 professionals in more than 80 member firms.
David is an experienced corporate financier. Formerly with PwC, he has advised on numerous deals, from smaller buyouts to large capital markets transactions, as well as infrastructure projects and complex outsourcing contracts. He holds a BSc (Jt Hons.) from the University of Durham, an MBA with distinction from the University of Bath, and the ICAEW’s Diploma in Corporate Finance.

Daniel is Head of Corporate Affairs at the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) - the UK's largest pension fund with assets of around £75 billion. He is responsible for USS’s public affairs and public relations, including government engagement and corporate communications, for both the pension and investments businesses. He also oversees internal communications and USS’s Corporate Responsibility programme.
Previously, Daniel co-headed the Responsible Investment Team at USS Investment Management where he was responsible for the stewardship of the companies, funds and assets in which USS invests by engaging on key governance issues and market-wide risks as part of the internal investment process
Daniel serves as a member of a number of committees in the UK and overseas, including the Investment Association’s Corporate Affairs Committee, and Co-Chairs the European Governance Council of the Conference Board.
Prior to USS, he was the Head of Corporate Governance at the Institute of Directors.
Daniel also currently serves as a trustee of two local schools.

Mr. Tong is counsel in Davis Polk’s Corporate Department, practicing in the London office. He advises private equity, venture capital, corporate and investment banking clients on a wide range of transactions, including public and private M&A, early stage financings and investments, joint ventures and restructuring matters. He also has extensive experience advising on transactions in the fintech, insurance, retail and renewable energy space, as well as Chinese outbound investments into Europe.

Willianne van Zandwijk is a partner in the Corporate and M&A practice of NautaDutilh's London office and a member of the Private Equity team. Willianne focuses on Benelux and cross border mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buy-outs and corporate finance transactions for both financial investors and corporate clients. Willianne has broad trans-actional experience in various industries including retail, technology, energy, transport and logistics.

Mark Ward is a partner and Head of Mergers & Acquisitions in A&L Goodbody, Ireland's leading Corporate law firm. Mark specialises in M&A, corporate governance, company law, corporate finance, private equity, joint ventures, venture capital, corporate restructurings, commercial contractual arrangements and corporate fundraisings. His work ranges from general advice on compliance, including corporate governance, to advice on transactions, restructurings and on commercial contract arrangements. Mark's clients include public and private corporates, private equity, financial institutions and commercial enterprises generally.

ALG has featured as the top ranking Irish advisor for corporate work by Bloomberg, Experian and Thomson Reuters for the last nine years; and most recently has been named 'Ireland's M&A Legal Adviser of the year, 2020' by Mergermarket.

Over 10 years of M&A experience with a focus on renewable energy assets and cross-border transactions
Executed buy-side and sell-side transactions representing over $30bn of enterprise value within the solar and wind sectors
Previously with the M&A team at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London