Eric Flaye

Partner and Head of London Office

London | T +44 20 7562 0341
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Eric Flaye is a Partner and Head of the London office.

He has a broad corporate practice with particular expertise and interest in private investment funds, mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures. He is also a key member of the firm’s growing Fintech (blockchain & digital assets) practice.

Eric moved offshore in 2015 with 8 years of onshore transactional and funds experience (first with Herbert Smith Freehills’ Tier 1 M&A/PE team in Sydney, then later with Sullivan & Cromwell in London). He relocated to London in early 2019.

Jurisdictions

Experience

  • Advising on numerous (confidential) private fund formations (in particular, PE/VC funds and hedge funds), fund restructurings and related regulatory matters
  • Advising on the US$2 billion IPO of Despegar on the New York Stock Exchange
  • Advising on the IPO of LSC Lithium on the Toronto Stock Exchange
  • Advising Mercuria Energy Group on a number of its private investment activities
  • Advising Goldman Sachs’ merchant banking division on various M&A transactions and related joint ventures and management incentive plans
  • Advising Archer Capital on various M&A transactions as well as fund formation and restructuring matters
  • Advising BHP Billiton, Rhône Capital, JP Morgan, Barclays, BAML, Ares Capital, KKR, Pacific Equity Partners, Elders, Boral, Leighton Holdings, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and Public Sector Pension Investment Board on various separate M&A and joint venture matters
  • Advising Macquarie Bank, UBS, JP Morgan, Babcock & Brown, NAB, CBA, BNY Mellon and Eksportfinans on various separate securitisation, derivatives and structured finance matters

Qualifications

Professional Background

  • M&A/PE lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell, London
  • Client secondments with an asset management firm and an energy/resources company
  • M&A/PE lawyer at Herbert Smith Freehills, Sydney

Education

  • Harvard Business School, Private Equity & Venture Capital program, 2016
  • University of Oxford, Masters in Law and Finance (Distinction; first in class in finance; full scholarship), 2011
  • Australian Securitisation Forum, Diploma of Financial Services, 2008
  • Macquarie University (Australia), BBA/LLB (Hons), 2007
  • University of Utrecht (Netherlands), Student Exchange program, 2006
  • 7 university awards/prizes (including Remedies, Trade Practices, China Trade and Investment, Economics, and Finance)

Bar Admissions

  • Bermuda, Registered Associate
  • British Virgin Islands, Solicitor
  • England & Wales, Solicitor (not currently practising)
  • New South Wales (Australia), Solicitor (not currently practising)

Awards & Accolades

  • Recipient of Lexology Client Choice Award 2024  (Blockchain, British Virgin Islands)
  • Recognised as a ‘Recommended Lawyer’ in the 2024 edition of Legal 500 Caribbean (foreign based expertise)
  • Recognised in the 2024 (and in 2023) edition of IFLR1000 (investment funds)
  • Recognised in the 2021 edition of Who’s Who Legal (private funds)
  • Recognised as a ‘Rising Star’ in the 2020 edition of Legal 500 United Kingdom (offshore firms in London)
  • Recognised as a ‘Next Generation Lawyer’ in the 2019 edition of Legal 500 Caribbean (corporate and commercial)

Publications

Keeping Options Open – The Growing Demand for BVI Hybrid Funds, Hedgeweek British Virgin Islands Special Report 2023

‘Shadow directorship risk for lenders in informal workout scenarios’ (2009) 3 JASSA: The Finsia Journal of Applied Finance 32