Four Decades for Justice
George A. Stephanakis is Co‑Head of the Capital Markets Practice for EMEA. His practice focuses on capital market transactions and mergers and acquisitions.
Mr. Stephanakis’ recent work includes capital market transactions in connection with leveraged buyouts, initial public offerings and secondary equity offerings. He regularly represents issuers and underwriters in high-yield financings, and recently worked on offerings for AngloGold Ashanti, ASDA, AXA, CABB, CGG, CMA CGM, EdF, EG Group, Euronav, France Telecom, Hurtigruten, Lagardere, LeasePlan, Neiman Marcus, PSA Peugeot, RELX, Sappi, Wagamama and Warner Chilcot. Mr. Stephanakis also led the Cravath team that worked on the out‑of‑court debt for equity exchange of Akerys S.A., a French real estate developer, the first such exchange to have been completed in the European high‑yield market.
In mergers and acquisitions and other corporate matters, Mr. Stephanakis has represented Europcar in its acquisition of Vanguard’s European business and the establishment of a strategic alliance between Europcar and Vanguard; the independent directors of KKR Guernsey in the combination of KKR Guernsey with KKR and the subsequent listing of KKR on the NYSE; Exalead, a French software company, in its sale to Dassault Systèmes; GDF SUEZ (now ENGIE) in the sale of a 30% interest in its exploration and production business and a 10% stake in the Atlantic LNG liquefaction plant in Trinidad and Tobago to China Investment Corporation for a total consideration of $4 billion; PSA Peugeot in its strategic alliance with General Motors; Saint‑Gobain in the sale of its U.S. glass packaging business to Ardagh Glass; Mediclinic International in its combination with Al Noor Hospitals Group; Delhaize in its merger of equals with Royal Ahold; Luxottica in its combination with Essilor; Zodiac Aerospace in its sale to Safran; Richemont in its acquisition of YOOX Net‑A‑Porter; AXA in its acquisition of XL Group; Technicolor in the sale of its Patent Licensing business and Research & Innovation activity to InterDigital; Peugeot in its merger with Fiat Chrysler to form Stellantis; Richemont in its PIPE investment in Farfetch, in partnership with Alibaba; AngloGold Ashanti in its corporate restructuring and change to domicile in the United Kingdom and primary listing location to the NYSE, as well as its acquisition of the remaining shares of Corvus Gold; and Newcrest in its acquisition by Newmont and its acquisition of the remaining shares of Pretivm.
Mr. Stephanakis has been repeatedly cited as one of the leading practitioners in capital markets by, among others, Chambers UK, Chambers Global, The Legal 500 UK, IFLR1000 and The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom. He is also a recipient of the 2013 International Law Office – Lexology Client Choice Award in the Capital Markets category for the United Kingdom, which recognizes partners for their excellent client care and quality of service. In addition, Mr. Stephanakis has been recognized for his work in mergers and acquisitions by The Legal 500 UK and The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Stephanakis was born in Athens, Greece. He received an LL.B. summa cum laude from the University of Athens School of Law in 1994, where he was Editor‑in‑Chief of the Law Review. He was an Erasmus student at the Université de Bordeaux I in 1990 and received an LL.M. from Cambridge University in 1995 and an LL.M., as a Fulbright Scholar, from Harvard Law School in 1997.
Mr. Stephanakis joined Cravath in 1998 and was elected a partner in 2003. He worked at the Firm’s New York office until June 2006. From July 1, 2006 through the end of the year, Mr. Stephanakis was seconded at the Paris office of Bredin Prat. He joined the Firm’s London office at the beginning of 2007. He is fluent in English, French, Greek and Spanish.
Mr. Stephanakis’ recent work includes capital market transactions in connection with leveraged buyouts, initial public offerings and secondary equity offerings. He regularly represents issuers and underwriters in high-yield financings, and recently worked on offerings for AngloGold Ashanti, ASDA, AXA, CABB, CGG, CMA CGM, EdF, EG Group, Euronav, France Telecom, Hurtigruten, Lagardere, LeasePlan, Neiman Marcus, PSA Peugeot, RELX, Sappi, Wagamama and Warner Chilcot. Mr. Stephanakis also led the Cravath team that worked on the out‑of‑court debt for equity exchange of Akerys S.A., a French real estate developer, the first such exchange to have been completed in the European high‑yield market.
In mergers and acquisitions and other corporate matters, Mr. Stephanakis has represented Europcar in its acquisition of Vanguard’s European business and the establishment of a strategic alliance between Europcar and Vanguard; the independent directors of KKR Guernsey in the combination of KKR Guernsey with KKR and the subsequent listing of KKR on the NYSE; Exalead, a French software company, in its sale to Dassault Systèmes; GDF SUEZ (now ENGIE) in the sale of a 30% interest in its exploration and production business and a 10% stake in the Atlantic LNG liquefaction plant in Trinidad and Tobago to China Investment Corporation for a total consideration of $4 billion; PSA Peugeot in its strategic alliance with General Motors; Saint‑Gobain in the sale of its U.S. glass packaging business to Ardagh Glass; Mediclinic International in its combination with Al Noor Hospitals Group; Delhaize in its merger of equals with Royal Ahold; Luxottica in its combination with Essilor; Zodiac Aerospace in its sale to Safran; Richemont in its acquisition of YOOX Net‑A‑Porter; AXA in its acquisition of XL Group; Technicolor in the sale of its Patent Licensing business and Research & Innovation activity to InterDigital; Peugeot in its merger with Fiat Chrysler to form Stellantis; Richemont in its PIPE investment in Farfetch, in partnership with Alibaba; AngloGold Ashanti in its corporate restructuring and change to domicile in the United Kingdom and primary listing location to the NYSE, as well as its acquisition of the remaining shares of Corvus Gold; and Newcrest in its acquisition by Newmont and its acquisition of the remaining shares of Pretivm.
Mr. Stephanakis has been repeatedly cited as one of the leading practitioners in capital markets by, among others, Chambers UK, Chambers Global, The Legal 500 UK, IFLR1000 and The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom. He is also a recipient of the 2013 International Law Office – Lexology Client Choice Award in the Capital Markets category for the United Kingdom, which recognizes partners for their excellent client care and quality of service. In addition, Mr. Stephanakis has been recognized for his work in mergers and acquisitions by The Legal 500 UK and The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Stephanakis was born in Athens, Greece. He received an LL.B. summa cum laude from the University of Athens School of Law in 1994, where he was Editor‑in‑Chief of the Law Review. He was an Erasmus student at the Université de Bordeaux I in 1990 and received an LL.M. from Cambridge University in 1995 and an LL.M., as a Fulbright Scholar, from Harvard Law School in 1997.
Mr. Stephanakis joined Cravath in 1998 and was elected a partner in 2003. He worked at the Firm’s New York office until June 2006. From July 1, 2006 through the end of the year, Mr. Stephanakis was seconded at the Paris office of Bredin Prat. He joined the Firm’s London office at the beginning of 2007. He is fluent in English, French, Greek and Spanish.
Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom
Chambers Global
Chambers UK
IFLR1000
International Law Office - Lexology
The Legal 500 UK
Deals & Cases
May 15, 2023
On May 12, 2023, AngloGold Ashanti, an independent, global gold mining company, announced that it has undertaken a comprehensive review of its domicile and listing structure and concluded that the most appropriate structure for AngloGold Ashanti Group is a UK corporate domicile with a U.S. primary listing on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) and secondary listings on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (“JSE”) and A2X Markets (“A2X”) in South Africa and on the Ghana Stock Exchange (“GhSE”) in Ghana. Cravath is representing AngloGold Ashanti as U.S. counsel in connection with this matter.
Deals & Cases
May 15, 2023
On May 15, 2023, Newcrest Mining Limited (“Newcrest”) announced it has entered into a binding scheme implementation deed with Newmont Corporation (“Newmont”), in relation to a proposal for Newmont to acquire 100% of the issued shares in Newcrest by way of a scheme of arrangement. Under the terms of the agreement, Newcrest shareholders will be entitled to receive 0.400 Newmont shares for each Newcrest share held (“Scheme Consideration”). In addition, Newcrest will be permitted to pay a franked special dividend of up to $1.10 per share on or around the implementation of the scheme of arrangement. The Scheme Consideration which would be received by Newcrest shareholders under the proposed transaction, when aggregated with the franked special dividend, represents an implied equity value of A$26.2 billion and enterprise value for Newcrest of A$28.8 billion. Cravath is representing Newcrest as U.S. counsel in connection with the transaction.
Deals & Cases
September 06, 2022
On August 24, 2022, Richemont, FARFETCH and Symphony Global, one of the investment vehicles of Mohamed Alabbar (“Alabbar”), announced the acquisition by FARFETCH and Alabbar of a 47.5% and 3.2% stake respectively in YOOX NET‑A‑PORTER (“YNAP”), and the agreement for Richemont and YNAP each to adopt FARFETCH Platform Solutions. Cravath is representing Richemont as U.S. counsel in connection with the transaction.
Deals & Cases
May 20, 2022
Cravath represented RELX Capital Inc. in connection with its $500 million registered notes offering, guaranteed by RELX PLC. RELX Capital Inc. is an indirect finance subsidiary of RELX PLC, a global provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries. The transaction closed on May 20, 2022.
Deals & Cases
December 10, 2021
Cravath represented AngloGold Ashanti Holdings plc in connection with its $750 million registered notes offering, guaranteed by AngloGold Ashanti Limited, one of the biggest gold producers in the world, and its tender offer for, and subsequent redemption of, its $750 million notes due 2022. The new notes offering closed on October 22, 2021 and the liability management exercise was completed on November 26, 2021.
Activities & Publications
May 18, 2023
On May 18, 2023, Cravath prepared a memo for its clients entitled “SEC Amends Rules Requiring Disclosures of Issuer Share Repurchase and Rule 10b5‑1 Plans.” The memo examines the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recently adopted final rules on a number of disclosure requirements related to issuer share repurchases. The memo outlines key features of the new rules, the new tabular disclosures, the new narrative disclosures about issuer 10b5‑1 plans and issuer repurchases, and recommendations for companies. Cravath also published a tailored version of the memo for Foreign Private Issuers.
Activities & Publications
March 22, 2022
Cravath partners Mark I. Greene, Andrew J. Pitts and George A. Stephanakis served as contributing editors of the 2022 edition of “Lexology Getting the Deal Through: Securities Finance,” which provides an overview of capital markets in several jurisdictions around the globe. As part of their editorship, they authored the volume’s Global Overview and United States chapter. The Global Overview reviews the record high global capital markets activity in 2021, volume in equity capital markets and debt capital markets, and fiscal and monetary developments. The United States chapter examines the nation’s legal and regulatory framework governing securities offerings and covers topics including public offerings, private placings, underwriting arrangements, and liabilities and enforcement. Associate Paul Ddang Kim assisted with the preparation of the Global Overview and the United States chapter for this project, as did Mary Jean Whitsell.
George A. Stephanakis is Co‑Head of the Capital Markets Practice for EMEA. His practice focuses on capital market transactions and mergers and acquisitions.
Mr. Stephanakis’ recent work includes capital market transactions in connection with leveraged buyouts, initial public offerings and secondary equity offerings. He regularly represents issuers and underwriters in high-yield financings, and recently worked on offerings for AngloGold Ashanti, ASDA, AXA, CABB, CGG, CMA CGM, EdF, EG Group, Euronav, France Telecom, Hurtigruten, Lagardere, LeasePlan, Neiman Marcus, PSA Peugeot, RELX, Sappi, Wagamama and Warner Chilcot. Mr. Stephanakis also led the Cravath team that worked on the out‑of‑court debt for equity exchange of Akerys S.A., a French real estate developer, the first such exchange to have been completed in the European high‑yield market.
In mergers and acquisitions and other corporate matters, Mr. Stephanakis has represented Europcar in its acquisition of Vanguard’s European business and the establishment of a strategic alliance between Europcar and Vanguard; the independent directors of KKR Guernsey in the combination of KKR Guernsey with KKR and the subsequent listing of KKR on the NYSE; Exalead, a French software company, in its sale to Dassault Systèmes; GDF SUEZ (now ENGIE) in the sale of a 30% interest in its exploration and production business and a 10% stake in the Atlantic LNG liquefaction plant in Trinidad and Tobago to China Investment Corporation for a total consideration of $4 billion; PSA Peugeot in its strategic alliance with General Motors; Saint‑Gobain in the sale of its U.S. glass packaging business to Ardagh Glass; Mediclinic International in its combination with Al Noor Hospitals Group; Delhaize in its merger of equals with Royal Ahold; Luxottica in its combination with Essilor; Zodiac Aerospace in its sale to Safran; Richemont in its acquisition of YOOX Net‑A‑Porter; AXA in its acquisition of XL Group; Technicolor in the sale of its Patent Licensing business and Research & Innovation activity to InterDigital; Peugeot in its merger with Fiat Chrysler to form Stellantis; Richemont in its PIPE investment in Farfetch, in partnership with Alibaba; AngloGold Ashanti in its corporate restructuring and change to domicile in the United Kingdom and primary listing location to the NYSE, as well as its acquisition of the remaining shares of Corvus Gold; and Newcrest in its acquisition by Newmont and its acquisition of the remaining shares of Pretivm.
Mr. Stephanakis has been repeatedly cited as one of the leading practitioners in capital markets by, among others, Chambers UK, Chambers Global, The Legal 500 UK, IFLR1000 and The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom. He is also a recipient of the 2013 International Law Office – Lexology Client Choice Award in the Capital Markets category for the United Kingdom, which recognizes partners for their excellent client care and quality of service. In addition, Mr. Stephanakis has been recognized for his work in mergers and acquisitions by The Legal 500 UK and The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Stephanakis was born in Athens, Greece. He received an LL.B. summa cum laude from the University of Athens School of Law in 1994, where he was Editor‑in‑Chief of the Law Review. He was an Erasmus student at the Université de Bordeaux I in 1990 and received an LL.M. from Cambridge University in 1995 and an LL.M., as a Fulbright Scholar, from Harvard Law School in 1997.
Mr. Stephanakis joined Cravath in 1998 and was elected a partner in 2003. He worked at the Firm’s New York office until June 2006. From July 1, 2006 through the end of the year, Mr. Stephanakis was seconded at the Paris office of Bredin Prat. He joined the Firm’s London office at the beginning of 2007. He is fluent in English, French, Greek and Spanish.
Mr. Stephanakis’ recent work includes capital market transactions in connection with leveraged buyouts, initial public offerings and secondary equity offerings. He regularly represents issuers and underwriters in high-yield financings, and recently worked on offerings for AngloGold Ashanti, ASDA, AXA, CABB, CGG, CMA CGM, EdF, EG Group, Euronav, France Telecom, Hurtigruten, Lagardere, LeasePlan, Neiman Marcus, PSA Peugeot, RELX, Sappi, Wagamama and Warner Chilcot. Mr. Stephanakis also led the Cravath team that worked on the out‑of‑court debt for equity exchange of Akerys S.A., a French real estate developer, the first such exchange to have been completed in the European high‑yield market.
In mergers and acquisitions and other corporate matters, Mr. Stephanakis has represented Europcar in its acquisition of Vanguard’s European business and the establishment of a strategic alliance between Europcar and Vanguard; the independent directors of KKR Guernsey in the combination of KKR Guernsey with KKR and the subsequent listing of KKR on the NYSE; Exalead, a French software company, in its sale to Dassault Systèmes; GDF SUEZ (now ENGIE) in the sale of a 30% interest in its exploration and production business and a 10% stake in the Atlantic LNG liquefaction plant in Trinidad and Tobago to China Investment Corporation for a total consideration of $4 billion; PSA Peugeot in its strategic alliance with General Motors; Saint‑Gobain in the sale of its U.S. glass packaging business to Ardagh Glass; Mediclinic International in its combination with Al Noor Hospitals Group; Delhaize in its merger of equals with Royal Ahold; Luxottica in its combination with Essilor; Zodiac Aerospace in its sale to Safran; Richemont in its acquisition of YOOX Net‑A‑Porter; AXA in its acquisition of XL Group; Technicolor in the sale of its Patent Licensing business and Research & Innovation activity to InterDigital; Peugeot in its merger with Fiat Chrysler to form Stellantis; Richemont in its PIPE investment in Farfetch, in partnership with Alibaba; AngloGold Ashanti in its corporate restructuring and change to domicile in the United Kingdom and primary listing location to the NYSE, as well as its acquisition of the remaining shares of Corvus Gold; and Newcrest in its acquisition by Newmont and its acquisition of the remaining shares of Pretivm.
Mr. Stephanakis has been repeatedly cited as one of the leading practitioners in capital markets by, among others, Chambers UK, Chambers Global, The Legal 500 UK, IFLR1000 and The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom. He is also a recipient of the 2013 International Law Office – Lexology Client Choice Award in the Capital Markets category for the United Kingdom, which recognizes partners for their excellent client care and quality of service. In addition, Mr. Stephanakis has been recognized for his work in mergers and acquisitions by The Legal 500 UK and The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Stephanakis was born in Athens, Greece. He received an LL.B. summa cum laude from the University of Athens School of Law in 1994, where he was Editor‑in‑Chief of the Law Review. He was an Erasmus student at the Université de Bordeaux I in 1990 and received an LL.M. from Cambridge University in 1995 and an LL.M., as a Fulbright Scholar, from Harvard Law School in 1997.
Mr. Stephanakis joined Cravath in 1998 and was elected a partner in 2003. He worked at the Firm’s New York office until June 2006. From July 1, 2006 through the end of the year, Mr. Stephanakis was seconded at the Paris office of Bredin Prat. He joined the Firm’s London office at the beginning of 2007. He is fluent in English, French, Greek and Spanish.
Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom
Chambers Global
Chambers UK
IFLR1000
International Law Office - Lexology
The Legal 500 UK
Deals & Cases
May 15, 2023
On May 12, 2023, AngloGold Ashanti, an independent, global gold mining company, announced that it has undertaken a comprehensive review of its domicile and listing structure and concluded that the most appropriate structure for AngloGold Ashanti Group is a UK corporate domicile with a U.S. primary listing on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) and secondary listings on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (“JSE”) and A2X Markets (“A2X”) in South Africa and on the Ghana Stock Exchange (“GhSE”) in Ghana. Cravath is representing AngloGold Ashanti as U.S. counsel in connection with this matter.
Deals & Cases
May 15, 2023
On May 15, 2023, Newcrest Mining Limited (“Newcrest”) announced it has entered into a binding scheme implementation deed with Newmont Corporation (“Newmont”), in relation to a proposal for Newmont to acquire 100% of the issued shares in Newcrest by way of a scheme of arrangement. Under the terms of the agreement, Newcrest shareholders will be entitled to receive 0.400 Newmont shares for each Newcrest share held (“Scheme Consideration”). In addition, Newcrest will be permitted to pay a franked special dividend of up to $1.10 per share on or around the implementation of the scheme of arrangement. The Scheme Consideration which would be received by Newcrest shareholders under the proposed transaction, when aggregated with the franked special dividend, represents an implied equity value of A$26.2 billion and enterprise value for Newcrest of A$28.8 billion. Cravath is representing Newcrest as U.S. counsel in connection with the transaction.
Deals & Cases
September 06, 2022
On August 24, 2022, Richemont, FARFETCH and Symphony Global, one of the investment vehicles of Mohamed Alabbar (“Alabbar”), announced the acquisition by FARFETCH and Alabbar of a 47.5% and 3.2% stake respectively in YOOX NET‑A‑PORTER (“YNAP”), and the agreement for Richemont and YNAP each to adopt FARFETCH Platform Solutions. Cravath is representing Richemont as U.S. counsel in connection with the transaction.
Deals & Cases
May 20, 2022
Cravath represented RELX Capital Inc. in connection with its $500 million registered notes offering, guaranteed by RELX PLC. RELX Capital Inc. is an indirect finance subsidiary of RELX PLC, a global provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries. The transaction closed on May 20, 2022.
Deals & Cases
December 10, 2021
Cravath represented AngloGold Ashanti Holdings plc in connection with its $750 million registered notes offering, guaranteed by AngloGold Ashanti Limited, one of the biggest gold producers in the world, and its tender offer for, and subsequent redemption of, its $750 million notes due 2022. The new notes offering closed on October 22, 2021 and the liability management exercise was completed on November 26, 2021.
Activities & Publications
May 18, 2023
On May 18, 2023, Cravath prepared a memo for its clients entitled “SEC Amends Rules Requiring Disclosures of Issuer Share Repurchase and Rule 10b5‑1 Plans.” The memo examines the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recently adopted final rules on a number of disclosure requirements related to issuer share repurchases. The memo outlines key features of the new rules, the new tabular disclosures, the new narrative disclosures about issuer 10b5‑1 plans and issuer repurchases, and recommendations for companies. Cravath also published a tailored version of the memo for Foreign Private Issuers.
Activities & Publications
March 22, 2022
Cravath partners Mark I. Greene, Andrew J. Pitts and George A. Stephanakis served as contributing editors of the 2022 edition of “Lexology Getting the Deal Through: Securities Finance,” which provides an overview of capital markets in several jurisdictions around the globe. As part of their editorship, they authored the volume’s Global Overview and United States chapter. The Global Overview reviews the record high global capital markets activity in 2021, volume in equity capital markets and debt capital markets, and fiscal and monetary developments. The United States chapter examines the nation’s legal and regulatory framework governing securities offerings and covers topics including public offerings, private placings, underwriting arrangements, and liabilities and enforcement. Associate Paul Ddang Kim assisted with the preparation of the Global Overview and the United States chapter for this project, as did Mary Jean Whitsell.
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