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James Halstead

Partner

London +44 20 7067 2052

  • About
  • Representative Matters
  • Credentials
  • About

    James Halstead is a managing partner of Covington’s London office and a member of the Corporate Practice.

    He is recognised by his clients for his expertise in handling complex transactions. His clients include international pharmaceutical and tech companies, as well as leading venture and growth capital investment funds active in these sectors together with their portfolio companies. His practice is focused on transactions concerning the development of, and realization of value in, new technologies. He has substantive experience in sell and buy-side M&A transactions and regularly advises on fund raisings. James also advises on commercial transactions including technology transfers, intellectual property pipeline arrangements, licensing and joint ventures.

    According to Chambers UK (2024), "James Halstead is very adaptable and works on both the corporate equity side and life sciences licensing." 

    Areas of Expertise

  • Practices and Industries
  • Representative Matters
    • Advised lead investors Abingworth and Petrichor, together with co-investors DCVC Bio, 4BIO Capital, Cathay Health, and Deerfield Management, on their participation in the $130 million Series A fundraising by cell and gene manufacturing company, Ascend.
    • Advising venture capital firm ATP (Apple Tree Partners) on the formation of Adendra Therapeutics Ltd., a spin-out from the Francis Crick Institute in London that will discover and develop treatments for cancers and autoimmune diseases by applying new insights into regulation of adaptive immune responses by dendritic cells.
    • Advised Sitryx on a Licensing and Research Collaboration to Discover and Develop New Immunometabolic Medicines.
    • Johnson & Johnson in its sale of the global rights to Compeed® to HRA Pharma.
    • Johnson & Johnson in the sale of its portfolio of OTC anti-fungal products (Pevaryl®, Fungoral®, Gyno-Pevaryl® and Epi-Pevaryl®) in certain European countries, to Trimb Healthcare AB.
    • Central European Media Enterprises Ltd., a company listed on NASDAQ and the Prague Stock Exchange, in the $262.2 million sale of its broadcast operations in Croatia (“Nova TV”) and in Slovenia (“POP TV”) to a subsidiary of United Group B.V, a private company which is majority owned by U.S. investment firm KKR.
    • Advised the management team on The Foundry’s investment from HgCapital under the terms of which HgCapital assumed majority ownership from The Carlyle Group for an enterprise value of £200 million ($312 million USD). The Foundry is a leading provider of award-winning creative software.
    • Advised Nikon Corporation on its €72 million public takeover over of Metris NV, a Belgian metrology company listed on Euronext Brussels.

    • Advised Johnson & Johnson on the sale of its vaccine manufacturing business in Solna, Sweden to Valneva, a French pharmaceutical company listed on Euronext, Paris.
    • Advised OCP S.A. a leading producer of phosphate rock and phosphoric acid, on its acquisition of approximately 10% of the share capital of, and on its entry into a long-term supply agreement with, Brazilian listed fertilizer company, Fertilizantes Heringer S.A.
    • Advised hit musical producer, Cameron Mackintosh Limited, on its acquisition of the Victoria Palace Theatre, London.
    • Advised Axis-Shield plc, on the £235 million all cash public takeover offer from Alere, Inc., a U.S. company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Axis-Shield develops and manufactures diagnostic testing equipment and was then dual listed in London and Oslo.
    • Advised Spanish pharmaceutical company, Laboratorios Esteve, S.A. in a global multi-programme discovery and development collaboration, with payments potentially exceeding $1 billion, with Mundipharma Laboratories GmbH and its independent associated company, Purdue Pharmaceuticals LP, to bring to market important next generation products for the management of pain.
    • Advised AstraZeneca and MedImmune, its global biologics research and development arm, on the acquisition of Spirogen, a privately-held biotech company focused on antibody-drug conjugate technology for use in oncology.
    • Advised the visual effects (VFX) software company, The Foundry, on its acquisition of Luxology LLC and various other corporate and commercial matters.
    • Advised ReNeuron Group plc, an AIM listed stem cell therapy company, on its £33m fund raising.
    • Advised Imperial Innovations on various investments, including portfolio companies Crescendo Biologics and Inivata.
    • Advising Abingworth on its investment in GammaDelta Therapeutics Ltd, an immunotherapy company.
    • Advised the syndicate of investors, including Imperial Innovations, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., Cambridge Innovation Capital and Woodford Patient Capital Trust, on their £31.5 million Series A investment in Inivata Limited, a clinical cancer genomics company employing the precision of ctDNA analysis to improve personalized healthcare in oncology.
    • Advised Kesios Therapeutics on its £19 million Series A financing by a syndicate of investors including SVLS, Imperial Innovations and Abingworth. Kesios is developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of multiple myeloma and other cancers.
    • Advised Johnson & Johnson on the acquisition of XO1 Limited, an asset-centric biopharmaceutical company founded to develop the anti-thrombin antibody ichorcumab.
    • Advised GammaDelta Therapeutics Limited on a strategic collaboration with Takeda to develop GammaDelta Therapeutics’ novel T cell platform, which is based on the unique properties of gamma delta (γδ) T cells derived from human tissues.

    Areas of Expertise

  • Credentials
    Education
    • College of Law, Chester, L.P.C., 1998
    • College of Law, Chester, C.P.E., 1997
    • University of Cambridge, B.A., 1996
    Bar Admissions
    • Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales
    Accolades
    • LMG Life Sciences Europe, Life Sciences Star - Financial & Transactional (United Kingdom) (2014-2015)
    • Chambers UK, Life Sciences: Transactional (2011-2012, 2018-2024)
    • Chambers UK, Private Equity: Venture Capital Investment (2016-2017)
    • Who's Who Legal, Global Leader - Life Sciences Transactional (2021)
    • Legal 500 UK, M&A - Upper Mid-Market & Premium Deals (2013, 2016, 2022)
    • Legal 500 UK, Venture Capital (2012, 2016, 2021-2022)
    • Legal 500 UK, Media & Entertainment (2015)   
    • Legal 500 UK, Equity Capital Markets (2012)  
    • Legal 500 UK, Flotations, Small and Mid-Cap (2011-2012)
    • Legal 500 UK, Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology (2011)

    Areas of Expertise

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