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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. Mr. Halstead also advises on commercial transactions including technology transfers, intellectual property pipeline arrangements, licensing and joint ventures.
According to Chambers UK (2020), "he is incredibly bright and understands the issues to an impressive depth."
- 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.
May 29, 2020, Covington Alert
The UK Government has released the full details of its Future Fund scheme, including the application process, together with the template convertible loan agreement. The Future Fund, the headline terms of which were announced on 20 April 2020 (see our Alert of 22 April), launched on 20 May 2020 and will initially be open until the end of September 2020. The ...
May 27, 2020, Covington Alert
The UK Government has tabled legislation to assist companies in financial difficulty and to make temporary changes to the law relating to the governance and regulation of companies. The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill1 (the “Bill”), which commenced its passage through the UK Parliament on 20 May 2020, is relevant to public companies as it provides for ...
April 22, 2020, Covington Alert
On 20 April 2020, the UK Government announced the new Future Fund scheme under which the Government will offer funding to innovative UK registered companies facing financial difficulties due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
April 21, 2020, Covington Alert
The Government has announced further information on the measures to be brought forward to assist public companies in meeting their statutory and regulatory obligations to hold annual general meetings (AGMs) during the current season. On 17 April 2020, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) ...
April 14, 2020, Covington Alert
On 8 April, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced further measures to assist companies seeking to raise finance from the capital markets in order to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and position their businesses for recovery. The FCA Statement of Policy sets out guidance on the application and relaxation of certain pre-existing rules, ...
April 3, 2020, Covington Alert
On 28 March, 2020, the UK Government announced that it intends to amend insolvency law to give companies breathing space and allow them to keep trading while they explore options for rescue. The changes include (a) a temporary suspension of wrongful trading by directors of UK companies for three months commencing on 1 March, 2020 and (b) the introduction of a ...
April 3, 2020, Covington Alert
At a time when many companies have been forced to close their offices and have almost all of their employees working remotely, the standard procedures for the execution of documents and addressing signing and closing matters have come under pressure. Below are some practical issues that can arise in the signing and closing of deals which are subject to English ...
April 3, 2020, Covington Alert
COVID-19 has created many challenges for both public companies and a range of regulators tasked with ensuring market functionality and integrity. In the past few weeks, Government, regulators and advisory bodies relevant to the capital markets have moved to act quickly where they can to announce new measures or provide guidance aimed to address areas of ...
Covington Advises Sitryx on Licensing and Research Collaboration for Immunometabolic Medicines
April 1, 2020
LONDON—Covington represented Sitryx on an exclusive global licensing and research collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company. The collaboration will study up to four novel preclinical targets identified by Sitryx that could lead to potential new medicines for autoimmune diseases. Under the terms of the agreement, Sitryx will receive an upfront payment of $50 ...
July 12, 2017
LONDON—Covington is advising Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. (CME) on the sale of its broadcast operations in Croatia and Slovenia to Slovenia Broadband S.à r.l for approximately $262.2 million. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2017. CME is a NASDAQ-listed media and entertainment company operating leading businesses in six Central and ...
March 29, 2017, Covington Alert
A number of new pieces of legislation have recently come into force or are due to come into force shortly which impose certain reporting obligations on both companies and limited liability partnerships in the UK.
March 17, 2017
LONDON—Covington advised AstraZeneca on its strategic collaboration with Circassia Pharmaceuticals plc, a respiratory biopharmaceutical company, for the development and commercialisation of Tudorza and Duaklir* in the U.S. Tudorza and Duaklir are inhaled respiratory medicines for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Tudorza was ...
March 16, 2016, Covington Alert
Covington Advises Esteve on Global Collaboration
January 15, 2015
LONDON, January 15, 2015 — Covington & Burling advised Laboratorios Esteve, S.A. (Esteve) in a global multi-programme discovery and development collaboration 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. Under the agreements, ...
January 15, 2015
LONDON, January 15, 2015 — Covington & Burling advised OCP S.A. on the acquisition of approximately 10% of the share capital of Brazilian listed fertilizer company, Fertilizantes Heringer S.A., for R$145.415.034,00 (approximately US$55 million) and on a long-term supply agreement for phosphatebased products. OCP Group is the largest global producer of phosphate ...
Starting the Commercialisation Process – What Issues do you need to Address
January 28, 2014, NanoEntrepreneurs Workshop "What does it take to commercialise micro & nanoscale research & development?
Covington Advises AstraZeneca/ MedImmune on Acquisition of Spirogen and Investment in and Collaboration with ADC Therapeutics
October 18, 2013
LONDON, 18 October, 2013 — AstraZeneca announced that MedImmune, its global biologics research and development arm, has acquired Spirogen, a privately-held biotech company focused on antibody-drug conjugate technology for use in oncology. Covington & Burling advised AstraZeneca on the transaction working alongside AstraZeneca’s in-house legal team. MedImmune has ...
July 22, 2013
LONDON, 22 July, 2013 — Covington & Burling acted for AIM listed stem cell therapy company, ReNeuron Group plc, on its £33 million fund raising. ReNeuron today announced that £25.35 million (before expenses) will be raised through an oversubscribed placing of new shares to fund the company’s therapeutic programmes through Phase II trials, together with a £7.8 ...
April 6, 2012
LONDON, 6 April, 2012 — Covington & Burling advised ReNeuron Group plc, an AIM-listed clinical stage stem cell business, in connection with a firm placing and open offer to existing shareholders to raise up to £9.4 million before expenses. In addition, investors in the firm placing are being issued warrants to subscribe for ordinary shares, which could raise up ...
March 5, 2012, Inside EU Life Sciences
Article originally published in PLC Life Sciences Handbook 2012 M&A in the life sciences sector has remained robust, driven by factors such as: The need to replenish shrinking product pipelines. The need to maintain revenues as patents on top-selling products expire. The strategic diversification of business lines. Expansion into emerging ...
2012, PLC Life Sciences Handbook 2012
10/21/2011
LONDON, 21 October, 2011 — Covington & Burling LLP is advising Axis-Shield plc on the recommended £235 million all cash public takeover offer from Alere, Inc., a US company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Axis-Shield is a Scottish-Norwegian company, listed on the London and Oslo Stock Exchanges, that develops and manufactures in vitro diagnostic tests for ...
- LMG Life Sciences Europe, Life Sciences Star - Financial & Transactional (United Kingdom) (2014-2015)
- Super Lawyers - London, Corporate Finance (2013)
- Chambers UK, Life Sciences: Transactional (2011-2012, 2018-2020)
- Chambers UK, Life Sciences (2018)
- Chambers UK, Private Equity: Venture Capital Investment (2016-2017)
- Legal 500 UK, M&A - Upper Mid-Market & Premium Deals (2013, 2016)
- Legal 500 UK, Venture Capital (2012, 2016)
- 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)