
Daniel Oates
Partner
Areas of Focus
- Private Equity Transactions
- Private Equity
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Corporate & Finance
- Joint Ventures & Strategic Alliances
- Private Capital
- Fund Manager Transactions
- Credit Funds
Dan is a partner in Akin’s Private Equity practice. He advises private equity sponsors and corporate clients on complex transactions across the UK and Europe, including cross-border acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, disposals, public-to-private deals, and minority investments. With more than two decades of experience, Dan leads multidisciplinary legal teams across a broad range of sectors, including technology, software, data, telecommunications, investment management, health care, life sciences, and retail and consumer products.
Dan has been recognized as a leading M&A and private equity lawyer by numerous industry publications, including The Legal 500 UK and IFLR1000. Additionally, he has been named to the The Lawyer's "Hot 100" list and has been recognized as one of the 30 most influential lawyers in private equity under the age of 40 by Private Funds Management, and as a "Superstar Lawyer of Tomorrow" in Private Equity Manager's "Roll of Honour."
Advised Francisco Partners on more than 30 transactions including:
- the take private of Cybit Holdings plc, the subsequent add-on acquisition of Masternaut and the sale of the combined business to a joint venture between Summit Partners and Fleetcor
- the acquisition of Buongiorno’s B2B business
- the sale of CMAC Aerospace
- the take private of Kewill plc (latterly renamed BluJay Solutions), a leading provider of supply chain software and services
- the add-on acquisitions by BluJay Solutions of:
- Raven Logistics
- Blackbay
- Expedient Software
- ERA Systems
- Lean Logistics
- Grosvenor Consumer Products
- the minority investment by Temasek in BluJay Solutions
- the acquisition of Avecto, a provider of endpoint privilege management software solutions
- the acquisition of LiveU, a leading video streaming and remote production solutions provider and the subsequent sale of LiveU to Carlyle
- the acquisition of MyHeritage and the acquisition of MesAiuex.com by MyHeritage
- its joint bid (alongside CVC Capital Partners) for Network International plc, valuing the business at £2.1bn
- the take private of Blancco Technology Group plc
EducationL.P.C., BPP University Law School, England, 2002
B.A., University of Oxford, 2000
L.P.C., BPP University Law School, England, 2002
B.A., University of Oxford, 2000
Bar AdmissionsSolicitor, England and Wales
Solicitor, England and Wales
- Quoted, "Navigating a challenging regulatory environment," The Drawdown (September 2, 2024)
- Quoted, "Putting The 'Private' Back Into Take-Privates," The Drawdown (May 16, 2024)
- Quoted, "London Calling," Mergers & Acquisitions Magazines (March / April 2024)
- Quoted, "U.K. Advisory Opportunity Viewer: Dealmakers Adapt to Challenges as Weak Pound Sparks Inbound Interest," Mergermarket (October 12, 2022)
- Quoted, "UK Trendspotter: Defensive sectors in vogue as dealmakers in infra M&A," Mergermarket (July 4, 2022).
