David Wilson

David advises on a broad range of UK and international tax matters. He has experience acting on some of the largest and most complex transactions seen in the UK, but he is equally skilled at assisting companies at all stages in their growth, from startup to initial public offering and beyond. David has extensive knowledge of the tax issues faced by clients in the life sciences and technology sectors, and he frequently works with private equity and venture capital funds.

Recent legal directory comments about David:

• ‘An exceptionally bright tax lawyer who is very good to deal with and very practical’.
• ‘He is the best type of lawyer: He’s an expert in the field and a wonderful, practical, business-minded adviser’.
• ‘David has a real skill in delivering complex tax advice in a way that can be understood by lawyers and non-lawyers, coupled with a commercial and pragmatic approach to identifying the key issues’.
• ‘There was a modesty and practicality to the team at Cooley that was noteworthy and made working with them a smooth experience. Compared with many other firms, there was a distinct lack of grandstanding. I believe they focused on adding value in everything they did rather than trying to maximise fees at the client’s expense. I was very impressed and would use again’.

David’s recent experience includes advising:

• Amryt Pharma on its $1.48 billion public acquisition
• Uber Technologies on the hive down of its Middle East ‘super app’ business and the $400 million sale of 50.03% stake in the spinout entity to e&
• Snyk on fundraisings and acquisitions including of Enso Security, CloudSkiff, FossID, Manifold and DeepCode
• The Carlyle Group on its acquisition of HireVue
• Bavarian Nordic on the acquisition of vaccines from GSK for 796 million euros
• Exscientia on its $510 million Nasdaq IPO

David’s experience before joining Cooley includes advising on:

• AstraZeneca’s defence to a $118 billion takeover bid by Pfizer
• The $130 billion acquisition of Verizon Wireless from Vodafone
• All major transactions by the Royal Bank of Scotland preceding and during the financial crisis, including its 71 billion-euro consortium takeover of ABN AMRO Bank and subsequent integration work, its 12 billion-pound rights issue, 15 billion-pound open offer and 25.5 billion-pound share issue to HM Treasury, its terms of accession to the UK government’s 282 billion-pound Asset Protection Scheme, and various aspects of its subsequent asset disposal program, including its disposal of WorldPay

David’s notable publications:

• Co-author of ‘1.5% Stamp Tax Change: Revised Legislation Published’, Tax Journal
• Co-author of ‘1.5% Stamp Tax Charge: Continuity or Change?’, Tax Journal
• Author of ‘Insuring M&A Tax Risk’, Tax Journal
• Co-author of ‘Amazon Branches Out’, Tax Journal
• Co-author of ‘Practice Guide: UK Companies Listing in the US’, Tax Journal