People
George Karafotias
Biography
George focuses on U.S. and cross-border M&A transactions, advising clients on public company transactions (negotiated and unsolicited/hostile), spin-offs, going private transactions, consortium bids, private M&A transactions, joint ventures and strategic investments, as well as on SEC, corporate governance and general corporate matters.
George regularly works closely with boards, special committees and senior management on their most complex and strategically significant transactions. He has advised on over $450 billion of successfully completed M&A transactions, and his work has been recognized in major legal directories and publications.
He has experience across a wide range of industry sectors, including mining and metals, chemicals, industrials, infrastructure, healthcare, food and agriculture, shipping and transportation, sport and financial services.
Practice areas
- Corporate and M&A
- M and A JVs and corporate reorganizations
- Private client
- Asset management M and A
- Global employment and compensation
- Public company advisory and corporate governance
Sectors
- Mining and metals
- Industrials and manufacturing
- Healthcare services
- Infrastructure and transport
- Financial institutions
- Capital solutions
Selected experience
- SSR Mining on the sale of its 80% stake in the Çöpler (Copler) mine in Türkiye to Cengiz Holding for USD1.49 billion.
- GSK plc and GlaxoSmithKline LLC in connection with their tender offer for RAPT Therapeutics, Inc., for cash consideration of approximately USD2.2 billion.
- Hapag-Lloyd AG, Germany, through its subsidiary Hanseatic Global Terminals (HGT), on the acquisition of the interests in Florida International Terminal, LLC (FIT) held by Agunsa USA, Inc. (Angusa), an affiliate of Chile based Grupo Empresas Navieras, and the dissolution of the underlying joint venture between HGT and Agunsa in relation to FIT.
- Corporacion America Airports S.A. (CAAP), one of the world’s leading airport operators, on its transaction with the principal investment arm of the Government of Dubai, to acquire shares representing 25% of the capital interest in Corporacion America Italia S.p.A. (CAI) from ICD in exchange for 1,996,439 newly issued CAAP shares.
- Despegar.com. Corp., a leading Latin American Online Travel Agency (OTA) listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Inc., in connection with its $1.7 billion acquisition by Prosus.
- Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. in connection with its acquisition by Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. in a going-private transaction for USD454 million.
- Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. and its wholly-owned subsidiary ITB Holding Brasil Participações Ltda. in connection with their tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding common shares (including common shares represented by ADSs) of Banco Itaú Chile that they do not already own, for consideration of approximately USD789 million.
- Edificio Del Noroeste, S.A. de C.V. in its USD73.3 million cash tender offer for Industrias Bachoco, S.A.B. de C.V.
- SWOCTEM GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Prof. Dr. E.h. Friedhelm Loh, in connection with its voluntary public takeover offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Klöckner & Co. SE.
- Anglo American plc in connection with the proposed business combination between its nuGenTM Zero Emissions Haulage Solution and First Mode Holdings, Inc.
Education
- BCom, University of Adelaide, 1994 LLB (Hons), University of Adelaide, 1995 Hons LLB (Thesis), University of Adelaide, 1997 LLM, University of Pennsylvania, 1998
Admissions
- New York, 1999