Craig Atkinson
Biography
Overview
Craig is a partner in the Global Mergers & Acquisitions Practice, based in Riyadh. Ranked as a "Next Generation Partner" by The Legal 500 and as "Up & Coming" for Corporate/M&A by Chambers Global over several years, Craig is renowned for his expertise in handling large and complex cross-border transactions. He has extensive experience advising corporate clients, family offices, and private equity houses on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, divestitures, reorganisations, and privatisations across various sectors and jurisdictions.
Clients commend Craig for his "standout service delivery and turnaround times" and his "very commercial approach" (Commercial, Corporate and M&A, The Legal 500). They have further stated that "Craig Atkinson is notable in cross-border transactions for listed companies" and that "Craig Atkinson is highly professional, very knowledgeable and very personable" (Commercial, Corporate and M&A, The Legal 500). Additionally, clients have provided the following praise: "He worked extremely hard to meet deadlines and produced work of the highest standard" and "He is easy to relate to and extremely talented in corporate law" (Corporate/M&A, Chambers Global).
In addition to being a leading transactional lawyer, Craig has significant experience in highly regulated sectors such as mining and natural resources, healthcare and pharmaceuticals and telecommunications.
Experience
Representative experience includes:
Representation of Saudi Aramco on its acquisition of a 50 percent interest in Blue Hydrogen Industrial Gases Company (BHIG), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air Products Qudra, itself a joint venture between Air Products and Chemicals Inc and Vision Invest.
Representing Goldman Sachs in relation to Walmart's ZAR6.4 billion acquisition of Massmart Holdings Limited.
Representation of the bondholders of London Stock Exchange listed Petra Diamonds plc in relation to its proposed capital restructuring, (including advising on the corporate, and Black Economic Empowerment compliance aspects of the proposed restructuring insofar as it impacts the bondholders' rights and security).
Representation of private equity firm Advencap in the joint venture formed between it, Digital Bridge and SOHO Square through the merger FTTH companies BRSK and Netomnia to create the second largest alternative internet network provider in the United Kingdom.
Representation of Absa (one of the largest bank in Africa) in its acquisition of the domestic Wealth and Personal Banking and Business Banking business of HSBC Mauritius.
Representation of Brightbridge Real Estate Limited in its ZAR1.75 billion acquisition of all of the shares and claims on loan held by Rand Merchant Holdings in Atterbury Europe.
Representation of Pallinghurst Resources Limited in its successful hostile takeover of Gemfields PLC for a purchase consideration in excess of GBP200 million.
Representation of Emira Property Fund in its successful takeover of Transcend Property Fund.
Ranked in Band 5 as Leading Individual for Corporate/M&A (South Africa), Chambers Global 2024
Next Generation Partners for Commercial, Corporate and M&A (South Africa), Legal 500 2023
