People
Krishna Omkar has a wide multi-specialist practice acting for public and private companies in cross-border mergers & acquisitions, private equity, and capital markets transactions, as well as the corporate aspects of restructuring and insolvency, special situations, and private credit solutions. He counsels boards on corporate governance and risk, shareholder activism and defence, board evaluations, and ESG, and, as a Solicitor Advocate with Higher Rights of Audience in Civil Proceedings in the courts of England & Wales, collaborates across practices on high-stakes contentious and semi-contentious matters. A globally recognised thought-leader on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Krishna advises boards on corporate governance, policy, and risk issues related to DEI. Krishna's clients span a range of sectors, including financial services, infrastructure and energy, life sciences, sports and entertainment, and private wealth.
Krishna is recommended for Upper Mid-Market and Premium / £500 million+ M&A in Legal 500 UK 2022, which notes his "emphasis on emerging markets, especially on mandates with a strong Indian aspect", and is also listed as a key lawyer in Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2020 and 2021. He has been named a Future Leader by the Financial Times in its Executive Diversity Report, named 2018 Role Model of the Year by Stonewall, received a 2019 Asian Achievers Award for Professional of the Year, and the inaugural Rising Star Award in the 2019 British Legal Awards. In 2021, he was named by Attitude as one of 101 Trailblazers Changing the World, named to The Guardian’s Pride Power List, and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Notable matters include aacting for Western Union in its landmark investment in stc Pay, valuing stc Pay at US$1.3 billion and creating the first Unicorn in Saudi Arabia and the first Middle Eastern Fintech Unicorn; advising Olivier Creed on the sale of Creed, one of the world’s leading luxury perfume houses, to BlackRock LTPC, following seven generations of family ownership; acting for Global Switch in its €3 billion EMTN Programme on the ESG segment of Euronext Dublin; advising Eddie Stobart in its highly publicized rescue in 2019, without which the UK supply-chain would have collapsed in the lead-in to Christmas; representing Mark Newton-Jones in his reinstatement as CEO of Mothercare plc, an unprecedented step for a UK public company; acting for the leading directory of legal services, Chambers & Partners, on its sale to Inflexion; representing STAR TV in relation to the global audio-visual rights for International Cricket Council events, the biggest broadcast deal in the history of cricket; and acting for GlaxoSmithKline on its major three-part inter-conditional transaction with Novartis worth US$20 billion. He has also acted for some of the world's leading financial institutions in multi-jurisdictional investigations including in relation to sanctions and foreign exchange markets, and on multiple complex disputes between investors and sovereign states.
Krishna is recognised as a thought-leader on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. In 2020, Krishna convened a round table of CEOs at the World Economic Forum 2020 in Davos, to discuss inclusive capitalism, having spoken on a panel of CEOs and business leaders in 2019. In 2019, Krishna was invited by the UN Assistant Secretary General to lead the 2019 UN consultation on LGBTQI+ rights, and also provided pro bono support in the successful September 2018 appeal to decriminalise same sex relations in India, collaborating with lead counsel on a brief that was relied on in the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment.
Between 2010 and 2018, Krishna worked at the London office of Slaughter and May, during which time he was also seconded to Moody's Corporation. He is a trustee of the UK charity Paintings in Hospitals and the U.S. non-profits Athlete Ally, and Organization For Refuge, Asylum and Migration.
Krishna received a B.A. from the University of Delhi, an M.Phil. from the University of Oxford, and spent time as visiting researcher at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris / Sciences Po.
L.P.C., BPP Law School London
Visiting Researcher, Sciences Po Paris
G.D.L., BPP Law School London
M.Phil., Oxford University, UK
B.A., English, St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, First Class Honours
England and Wales
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Higher Rights of Audience (Civil); Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Law Society of England & Wales
English
Hindi
December 2, 2021
K&S advises BOA Acquisition on its $1.2B acquisition of Selina
December 2, 2021
BOA Acquisition Corp. to Merge with Selina in de-SPAC Transaction
September 30, 2021
King & Spalding Earns Multiple Rankings in Legal 500 UK 2022 Guide
PUBLIC M&A and CAPITAL MARKETS
Acting for The Western Union Company in its investment in stc Pay, valuing stc Pay at USD 1.3 billion, thus creating the first Unicorn in Saudi Arabia, the third Unicorn in the Middle East, and the first Fintech Unicorn in the Middle East.
Acting for Global Switch, the leading highly-connected data centre provider in the top ten European and Asia-Pacific data centre markets, in relation to its €3 billion EMTN Programme and the issuance of a €700 million green bond, listed on the ESG Bonds segment of Euronext Dublin.
Acting for NYSE-listed Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. on its USD 565 million recommended cash offer for Scapa Group plc, implemented by way of a scheme of arrangement.
See more
March 7, 2022
The IPCC publishes its latest report on climate change
December 2, 2021
K&S advises BOA Acquisition on its $1.2B acquisition of Selina
December 2, 2021
BOA Acquisition Corp. to Merge with Selina in de-SPAC Transaction
September 30, 2021
King & Spalding Earns Multiple Rankings in Legal 500 UK 2022 Guide
PUBLIC M&A and CAPITAL MARKETS
Acting for The Western Union Company in its investment in stc Pay, valuing stc Pay at USD 1.3 billion, thus creating the first Unicorn in Saudi Arabia, the third Unicorn in the Middle East, and the first Fintech Unicorn in the Middle East.
Acting for Global Switch, the leading highly-connected data centre provider in the top ten European and Asia-Pacific data centre markets, in relation to its €3 billion EMTN Programme and the issuance of a €700 million green bond, listed on the ESG Bonds segment of Euronext Dublin.
Acting for NYSE-listed Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. on its USD 565 million recommended cash offer for Scapa Group plc, implemented by way of a scheme of arrangement.
See more
March 7, 2022
The IPCC publishes its latest report on climate change
December 2, 2021
K&S advises BOA Acquisition on its $1.2B acquisition of Selina
December 2, 2021
BOA Acquisition Corp. to Merge with Selina in de-SPAC Transaction
September 30, 2021
King & Spalding Earns Multiple Rankings in Legal 500 UK 2022 Guide
L.P.C., BPP Law School London
Visiting Researcher, Sciences Po Paris
G.D.L., BPP Law School London
M.Phil., Oxford University, UK
B.A., English, St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, First Class Honours
England and Wales
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Higher Rights of Audience (Civil); Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Law Society of England & Wales
English
Hindi