Profile: Mark Rawlinson

Mergers and Acquisitions

Biography: Mergers and Acquisitions

Mark Rawlinson has been a Freshfields partner for 18 years and specialises in mergers and acquisitions, particularly competitive or contested situations. He is head of the corporate department in London.

Mark advised P&O on the competing bids by Dubai Ports World and Port of Singapore Authority in 2006, a transaction which earned his team the "M&A Team of the Year" award from The Lawyer, and Mark a commendation as "Deal Lawyer of the Year" from Legal Week. The previous year he helped Manchester United prolong their defence against the Glazer family bid and was runner up in The Lawyer's "Partner of the Year" award. Transactions in 2007 included advising EMI on the takeover offer by Terra Firma and ICI on the Akzo Nobel bid.

Mark's other high-profile transactions include advising: P&O Princess Cruises on its combination with Carnival Corporation - the first example of London and New York listed companies being put together under a dual listed company structure; Valentia consortium in connection with the proposed acquisition by Valentia Telecommunications of Eircom plc of Ireland; P&O on its demerger; Air Liquide's joint bid with Air Products for BOC; Morgan Stanley's recommended offer for Acorn; Marsh & McLennan's recommended offer for Sedgwick Group; Redland's defence of the Lafarge bid; Gulf Canada's bid for Clyde Petroleum; Abbey National's bid for FNFC; and BTR's bid for Hawker Siddeley.

Mark was born in 1957 and educated at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. He has been a partner since 1990 and is relationship partner for a number of international companies (including Carnival Corporation, Compass, 3M and Wolseley). He is a member of The Times law panel and is ranked in the first tier of M&A lawyers by Chambers and other directories.