David Sonter

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) is advising CVC, a leading global private markets manager, on its acquisition of a majority stake in leading infrastructure manager, DIF Capital Partners, with a commitment to acquire the remaining shares over time. This combination creates a global private markets manager with seven complementary strategies and approximately €177 billion of total assets under management. This strategic acquisition provides CVC with a leading infrastructure platform, directly adjacent and highly complementary to its existing private equity, secondary and credit strategies. In addition, this acquisition accelerates the growth of DIF. The Freshfields team is being led in London by partners Andy Robinson, Charles Hayes, David Sonter and Jill Gatehouse and in Amsterdam by partners Hanneke Rothbarth, Menno Verboom and Eelco van der Stok.

Sep 6

1 min

Global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) advises Deutsche Bahn on the sale of international transport business Arriva, including all of its operating businesses across 10 European markets to I Squared Capital, a leading global infrastructure investment manager. Completion of the transaction is expected in 2024, and is subject to the customary closing conditions, including the approval of the Deutsche Bahn Supervisory Board and the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport of the Federal Republic of Germany. As part of its Strong Rail Group strategy, Deutsche Bahn announced that it intended to sell Arriva to enable additional growth in rail transport in Germany and allow it to focus its resources on its core business, supporting a shift to greener transport and cleaner cities across Europe. The Freshfields team is being led by partners Richard Thexton and David Sonter and senior associate Yvonne Barry, together with associates Tim Wuttke-Henshall, Charmaine Ho and Christine Khuat, partner Nick French, senior associate Theo Souris and associate Aaron Hanif on anti-trust matters, partner Jill Gatehouse and associate Nicola Cavey on tax matters, partner Andrew Murphy and senior associate Lauren Jackson advising on pension and employment matters while separation and IP support is provided by partner Giles Pratt, senior associate Tony Gregory and associate Jamaal Jackson. A cross-border, cross-practice team at Freshfields has worked closely with Arriva and Deutsche Bahn over many months to deliver the transaction, in particular with the Deutsche Bahn legal team of Alexander Wismeth, Martin Lamm, Thomas Götze and Christian Wörz and the M&A team of Stefan Klenke, Thomas Wagner and Philipp Lohöfer and with the Arriva legal team of Scott Marshall and Helen Seeber. Alexander Wismeth, Head of Legal for DB Arriva at Deutsche Bahn said “The Freshfields team, as a whole and each of its members, was exceptional and a great pleasure to work with throughout this transaction, which forms a vital part of Deutsche Bahn’s Strong Rail Group strategy”.

Oct 19

1 min

Global law firm Freshfields is advising CVC, one of the world’s leading private markets investment firms, on its acquisition of Marathon Asset Management, (‘Marathon’) a leading global credit manager. Following completion, the combination of CVC’s existing credit business and Marathon will create a world-class, multi-asset global credit manager with scaled investment capabilities across both Private and Public Credit. The addition of Marathon materially broadens CVC’s credit offering and significantly enhances its ability to scale and serve clients across Institutional, Private Wealth, and Insurance channels globally. The transatlantic Freshfields team is being led by partners Andy Robinson, David Sonter, Charles Hayes and Neal Reenan, senior associate Ted Haxby and associate Andrew Rondeau on M&A, with partners Emily Szasz and Joe Soltis on tax.

Jan 26

1 min

Global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer ('Freshfields') is advising longstanding client Compass Group, a leading global food service company, on the acquisition of CH&CO, for an initial enterprise value of £475m, with an additional earn-out over the two years following closing, depending on the profit growth of the business. Closing of the proposed transaction is subject to regulatory approvals. CH&CO is a provider of premium contract and hospitality services in the UK and Ireland through several sector brands. The company currently generates annual revenues of c. £450m and operates across a range of sectors, including Business & Industry, Sports & Leisure, Education, and Healthcare. CH&CO has a diverse client base and broad geographic spread which would complement Compass Group’s existing footprint in the UK and Ireland. Compass Group is a FTSE 100 listed world leading food and support services company, with a sector specific brand portfolio, which serves 5.5bn meals annually to millions of people in c.35 countries, and employs and engages more than 550,000 people globally. The Freshfields team is based in London and is being led by partners Rhys Evans and David Sonter, senior associate Akshay Naran and associates Alex Potts and Paula Stuomaitė

Jan 23

1 min

Ten law firm partners have been identified as the top U.K. M&A lawyers based in London for 2025, according to a dataset produced by MergerLinks. Samuel Newhouse of Latham & Watkins topped the rankings, and was found to have led on M&A transactions last year with a combined deal value of £54.05 billion. Newhouse was part of the Latham team which advised on the merger of mining giants Anglo American and Teck—creating a $53 billion combined group. Notably, every lawyer on the MergerLinks list of the top ten practitioners is male. The online platform’s final list is based on the total value of M&A transactions announced last year, and considers only those in which the respective lawyers led teams in which their firm was the primary legal adviser. The list also features top names from Freshfields, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Cravath Swaine & Moore, A&O Shearman and Slaughter and May. Freshfields partner Stephen Hewes was in second place on the list, having led on deals with a combined value of £21.9 billion, while Skadden partner Denis Klimentchenko was in third place with an equivalent figure of £15.8 billion. Freshfields' Hewes advised on CVC's acquisition of Smiths Detection from Smiths Group for £2 billion in December 2025, with Latham & Watkins also leading on the deal.

Mar 3

1 min