Philip Vavalidis

Local Partner, Dubai

Biography

Overview

Philip is a local partner in our EMEA Corporate M&A team in our Global Mergers & Acquisitions Practice and is a member of our EMEA Private Equity team based in Dubai.

Philip works between the Dubai and London offices and advises clients including private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds, corporates, other financial sponsors and alternative capital providers on a range of transactions including acquisitions, joint ventures, equity investments and co-investments, disposals and other corporate matters.

Philip has previously been seconded to the legal department of the European Special Situations Group and Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs International.

Bars and Courts
England and Wales
Education
GDL & LPC
BPP Law School
BA
McGill University
Languages
English

Experience

Representative experience includes:

Representation of Saudi Agricultural and Livestock investment Company (SALIC) on its acquisition of a 35% stake in Olam Agri Holdings Pte Ltd for US$1.24bn.

Representation of Kalyon İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş.,, on the establishment of a joint venture via the sale of its shares representing 50% of the share capital of Kalyon Enerji Yatırımları A.Ş. to International Holding Company PJSC (via International Energy Holding LLC), the UAE's most valuable listed company.

Representation of Kentech Corporate Holdings Limited, an investee company of leading energy investment firm Blue Water Energy, on its agreement to acquire the oil & gas business of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.'s Resources Division. SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. is a Canadian publicly listed entity (SCN:CN)

Representation of Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, on its acquisition, alongside Kohlberg & Company, of PCI Pharma Services ("PCI") from Partners Group and Frazier Healthcare Partners

Representation of Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners on its c. US$50 million Series F investment into Lookout Inc., a fast-growing Silicon Valley-based cyber security company with a pre-money valuation of c. US$1.5 billion.

Representation of Blackstone Credit on a variety of its investment, including:

  • in connection with Advent International's take private acquisition of Laird
  • the sale of Alcontrol Group Limited and the structuring and upstreaming of proceeds
  • its acquisition of a minority interest in iAero Group Holdco LLC and the subsequent acquisitions by iAero. Group of Miami Tech Aircraft Maintenance, Inc., the AeroThrust group of companies, and New Swift Air Holdings, L.L.C.

Representation of Goldman Sachs International on a variety of its investments, including:

  • alongside Blackstone Tactical Opportunities in Prima Assicurazioni
  • in FixPrice group, a leading "dollar" chain store based in Russia and Central Asia
  • alongside Baring Vostok Capital Partners in Sravni.ru, a Russian-based comparator website of banking and insurance retail products
  • alongside Cromwell Property Group in a portfolio of 24 office properties and three plots in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area from IVG Polar Oy.Oak Hill Advisors in relation to a transaction, which involved setting up its complex JV arrangements with Invel Real Estate Management Limited, in order, acquire certain real estate assets in Italy
  • in the Ceona Group

Representation of Oak Hill Advisors in relation to a transaction, which involved setting up its complex JV arrangements with Invel Real Estate Management Limited, in order, acquire certain real estate assets in Italy

Representation of Hoist Finance AB (Hoist) on a strategic partnership with alternative investment manager Magnetar Capital (Magnetar) for joint non-performing loan (NPL) portfolio investments on a pan-European level

Representation of GFH Financial in its acquisition of Roebuck AM LLP, a UK-based real estate asset management company with £1.44 billion AUM since inception

Representation of TruKKer, a Saudi-headquartered digital freight network, on its Series B equity and debt funding round, and on its US$100m Series C funding round

Representation of Arle Capital on its acquisition of the Innovia Group for an enterprise value of €498 million

Representation of two joint venture partners, Naturepak Limited and Evergreen Packaging International LLC in the sale of their Saudi joint venture (Naturepak Beverage) and its Moroccan subsidiary, to Elopak ASA

Representation of ETF Securities Limited on the equity, US and debt financing aspects of the US$611 million sale of its European exchange-traded commodity, currency and short-and-leveraged business to WisdomTree Investments, Inc.

Representation of Johnson Matthey on the sale of its UK automotive battery systems business, a subsidiary that specializes in high-voltage automotive grade battery systems for electric and hybrid vehicles, to Cummins Inc.

Awards and Recognition

Winner: Emerging Leader Award - The M&A Advisor, 2023