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Bob Bishop

Robert Bishop

Partner
Robert Bishop is highly personable, has an acute commercial sense and a deep industry expertise.
Client, The Legal 500 UK 2020
About

Bob Bishop has almost 30 years’ experience of advising clients on all areas of corporate law, with a particular focus on cross-border M&A, private equity transactions and joint ventures.

He has particular knowledge of IP-rich businesses and the industries they operate in, including consumer goods, life sciences, media/sports and technology. His clients include listed and private companies, institutional investors, and financial intermediaries.

Bob’s experience includes:

  • recommended and hostile public takeovers
  • all manner of private share and business acquisitions/disposals, domestic and cross-border
  • private equity buyouts and exits
  • corporate venture capital investments, often with a path to control and
  • joint ventures/strategic alliances

He is widely regarded as a trusted advisor and relationship builder, leading the firm’s relationships with clients such as Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL), Carlyle Europe Technology Partners (part of The Carlyle Group Inc., NASDAQ: CG), Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR), Liberty Global plc (NASDAQ: LBTY), Mondelēz International, Inc. (NYSE: MDLZ), The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (NASDAQ: WBD).

Recent transactions that Bob has advised on include the proposed 50:50 joint venture between Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. and BT Group plc to create a new sports venture in the UK (combining Eurosport UK and BT Sport), and the acquisition by Pixel United (the video games division of Aristocrat Leisure Limited) of mobile gaming studios Futureplay (Finland) and Playsoft (Poland).

Bob has a truly global perspective, especially helpful for clients entering new markets, dealing with overseas counterparties or executing complex multi-jurisdictional deals. Taken together, the transactions he has led on have involved most of the developed economies around the world.

Bob is also known for giving legal advice based on first-hand commercial insight, having spent time out of the law working as a venture capitalist.

Bar admissionsSolicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales

Highlights

EXPERIENCE

Bob’s experience includes advising:

  • Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. on its proposed 50:50 joint venture with BT Group plc to create a new sports venture in the by UK combining Eurosport UK and BT Sport.
  • Pixel United, the video games division of Aristocrat Leisure Limited, on its acquisitions of mobile gaming studios Futureplay (Finland) and Playsoft (Poland).
  • The shareholders of Innova Intellectual Properties SARL, a Luxembourg-based video game publisher, on its sale to ENAD Global 7 AB for EUR110 million.
  • Discovery, Inc. on its first foray into international news broadcasting through its investments in GB News (UK) and Reshet 13 (Israel).
  • Heineken, acting jointly with Patron Capital, on the take-private of Punch Taverns plc for GBP1.5 billion. Following the take-private, which involved extensive stake building, Heineken immediately acquired the group of 1,900 UK pubs formerly known as “Punch Securitisation A”.
  • Discovery, Inc. on its acquisition of the SBS Nordic business from ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG for USD1.7 billion. SBS Nordic comprised 12 TV networks and several leading radio stations across Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. The acquisition was followed by the carve-out sale of the SBS Nordic radio business to the Bauer Media Group.
  • Carlyle European Technology Partners, part of The Carlyle Group Inc., on multiple private equity transactions, including the acquisition of a majority stake in Livingstone Technologies Limited, the largest independent provider of Software Asset Management (SAM) managed services in the UK.
  • The Hain Celestial Group, Inc., a leading organic and natural products company, on numerous acquisitions and disposals, including its GBP220 million acquisition of Tilda (the premium basmati and speciality rice brand) and its subsequent sale of Tilda to Ebro Foods SA for USD342 million.
  • Discovery, Inc. on its entry into the sports broadcasting market through its multi-stage acquisition of the Eurosport channel from France’s TFI for EUR950 million.
  • Unilever plc (LON: ULVR) on several cross-border M&A mandates, including its acquisition of Graze, the UK’s leading healthy snacking brand, from The Carlyle Group.
  • Vice Media, the digital media and broadcasting company, on the creation and international roll-out of VICELAND, a series of linear television channels (including distribution arrangements in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India and the Middle East).
  • Discovery, Inc. on its acquisition (in joint venture with Liberty Global) of All3Media, a leading international producer and distributor of award-winning TV programming, for GBP550 million.
  • Mondelēz International, Inc. on a series of acquisitions and disposals, including its re-consolidation of the Cadbury brand through its acquisition of the Cadbury-licensed biscuits business operated by Burton Foods.
  • Heineken on its acquisition of minority stakes in Brixton Brewery and Beavertown Brewery.
  • Liberty Global and Discovery, Inc. on their investment into Formula E, the world’s first fully-electric international single-seater street racing series.
  • Danaher Corporation on multiple acquisitions and disposals, including its purchase of Leica Microsystems AG for USD500 million.
  • CAE Inc., the Canadian manufacturer of simulation technologies, on its acquisition of Oxford Aviation Academy for CDN314 million.
Education
  • Exeter University, Economics and Politics
  • College of Law, Chester, CPE/LSF

Awards and recognition

  • Leading individual, M&A, London, The Legal 500 UK 2022
  • Ranked lawyer, Corporate/M&A: Mid-Market, London, Chambers UK 2022
  • Notable practitioner, M&A, UK, IFLR1000 2022
  • Corporate team named European Mid-Market M&A Legal Adviser of the Year, Mergermarket European M&A Awards 2020

Pro Bono

  • DofE volunteer and leader
  • Led a team of DLA Piper corporate lawyers on a trek to Machu Picchu in support of UNICEF

Publications

  • Room for manoeuvre for directors of UK companies? Temporary modification of wrongful trading liability by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act, 15 July 2021
  • Managing COVID-19 risks in corporate deals, 26 March 2020

Memberships And Affiliations

  • Law Society of England and Wales

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