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Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance
David Pudge

David Pudge

Partner

Partner
David Pudge

David Pudge specialises in domestic and cross-border M&A, public takeovers and stock exchange matters as well as board advisory work, including corporate governance and activism defence. He acts for a broad range of clients and in particular large corporates and financial services groups.

  • Recursion Pharmaceuticals Inc. on its US$688 million acquisition of Exscientia plc
  • Virgin Money UK plc on its £2.9 billion takeover by Nationwide Building Society and, previously, CYBG on its £1.8 billion takeover of Virgin Money – these are respectively the largest UK bank mergers following the global financial crisis
  • Devro plc, a world leader in collagen casings manufacturing, on its recommended takeover by SARIA SE & CO. KG
  • Nielsen Holdings plc on its US$16 billion takeover by a private equity consortium led by Elliott Investment Management L.P., Brookfield Capital Partners LLC, GIC and The WindAcre Partnership
  • French Connection Group plc on its formal sale process and subsequent recommended takeover by MIP Holdings Ltd
  • Indivior plc on its US$100m share buyback programme
  • C&C Group plc on its rights issue to raise approximately £151 million
  • Connells Limited, an estate agency subsidiary of Skipton Building Society, on the initially hostile and contested, but ultimately recommended, takeover of Countrywide Group plc
  • Jupiter Fund Management plc on the acquisition of Merian Global Investors Limited for £370 million
  • Booker Group plc on its £3.7 billion merger with Tesco plc
  • L&G on the sale of its general insurance business
  • National Australia Bank and CYBG PLC on the demerger of CYBG (the parent company of Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank) on the demerger and listing of CYBG in London and Sydney
  • Booker Group on various aspects of the acquisition of Makro UK (including the competition commission review of the acquisition) and on the acquisition of Londis and Budgens
  • RBS on the sale of the RBS Aviation Capital aircraft leasing business to a consortium lead by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation for US$7.3 billion and on the separate disposal of its European rail leasing business
  • Man Group on the acquisition of FRM, a fund of hedge funds business with funds under management of approximately US$8 billion 
  • Banco Santander on its recommended takeover of Abbey National plc

News and client work

View all news and client work featuring David Pudge

Contact details

Career and qualifications

  • Exeter University (LLB) 1986
  • Joined Clifford Chance 1988
  • Admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales 1990
  • Seconded to Stikeman, Elliott in Toronto and Montreal 1994-1995
  • Partner since 1997

Professional bodies

  • Chairman of the City of London Law Society Company Law Committee
  • Member of the Law Society's Company Law Committee

Awards and citations

  • "David Pudge is a superb lawyer. He is very amiable and pleasant to work with and able to distil complex issues into simple to understand explanations."
    Chambers UK 2024, Corporate M&A
  • "David regularly delivers first-rate, timely, commercial advice with calm and level-headedness, regardless of the issue."
    Chambers UK 2024, Corporate M&A
  • David is highly ranked in the major legal directories including being included in the "Hall of Fame" for both M&A and Corporate Governance advice
    Legal 500
  • David led the team that won the Legal Business Corporate Team of the Year award in 2017 for the demerger of CYBG PLC from National Australia Bank.
  • David Pudge "offers practical, commercial advice and with an eye at all times to the strategic implications."
    Chambers UK
  • David Pudge has been recognised by clients for his "outstanding knowledge and proportionality".
    Legal 500 UK