About Ben
Ben advises on a wide range of corporate matters, with a focus on M&A on behalf of VC-backed companies, as well as private equity and growth capital fundraisings.
He acts for investors and high-growth companies on acquisitions, minority investments, leveraged buyouts, exits, buy-and-build strategies and restructurings, typically with a transatlantic element.
Ben advises on transactions covering a range of sectors, with a particular interest in software and other technology-related investments. He also has significant experience advising strategic and financial investors on complex domestic and cross-border M&A and joint ventures.
Ben’s representative matters include advising:
- Nord Security, the makers of NordVPN, on its two $100+ million financing rounds led by Warburg Pincus and Novator Ventures respectively, most recently at a valuation of $3 billion
- Snyk in connection with its acquisitions of Enso Security, Fugue, TopCoat, CloudSkiff, FossID, Manifold and DeepCode
- Kpler on its more than $200 million strategic growth investment from Insight Partners and Five Arrows, as well as in connection with its acquisitions of ClipperData, JBC Energy, COR-e, MarineTraffic and FleetMon
- Fordhouse on its investment in Zenzero, buy-and-build strategy and subsequent exit to Macquarie Capital
- CovertSwarm on its investment from Beech Tree Private Equity
- Unchained Labs on its acquisition of Blacktrace Holdings
- TradingHub on its investment from Summit Partners
- Uber on its joint venture with Yandex and its reorganization of Careem into separate ride-hailing and super app business units in connection with a $400 million investment by e&
- Zephr on its agreement to sell to Zuora
- UiPath in connection with its acquisition of Re:infer
- Investors in MiroBio on its agreement to sell to Gilead for approximately $405 million
- iProov on its $70 million growth investment from Sumeru Equity Partners
- Chegg in connection with its acquisition of Busuu for approximately $436 million
- Sense Biodetection on its combination with Sherlock Biosciences
- Quantifeed on its acquisition of Alpima
- Unmind on its acquisition of Frankie Health
- Wagestream in connection with its acquisition of Earnd Australia
- Humio on its agreement to sell to CrowdStrike for approximately $400 million
- Decibel on its agreement to sell to Medallia for approximately $160 million
- Burda Principal Investments on the buyout of Notonthehighstreet by Great Hill Partners
- Société Jacques Bollinger in connection with its investment in BI Wines and Spirits
- Inflexion Private Equity Partners in connection with its tertiary buyout of Aspen Pumps from 3i*
- Park Place Technologies, a portfolio company of GTCR, in connection with its add-on acquisitions of MCSA Group and Entuity*
- The Riverside Company in connection with the formation of the Netwatch Global Group through the simultaneous acquisitions of Netwatch, National Monitoring Center, Onwatch Multifire and CalAtlantic*
- Bain Capital Credit and Canyon Partners in connection with their sale of the QHotels portfolio for $706 million*
- L1 Retail in connection with its $2.25 billion acquisition of Holland & Barrett from The Carlyle Group*
- Index Ventures in connection with the sale of MetaPack to Stamps.com for $230 million*
- The management team of NewDay in connection with the sale of the company to Cinven and CVC Capital Partners for $1.2 billion*
* Transaction handled prior to joining Cooley
Ben joined Cooley in 2020. He was recommended in The Legal 500 as a next-generation partner for private equity transactions and was named a rising star of private equity in the London market by Legal Week in 2018.
Education
BPP University Law School
Legal Practice Course, with distinction, 2005; Graduate Diploma in Law, 2004
Peterhouse, Cambridge University
MA, 2003, Land Economy
Rankings and accolades
Legal 500: Next Generation Partner for Private Equity Transactions (2021)
Legal Week: Rising Star – Private Equity in the London Market (2018)