George Karafotias
Image of George Karafotias

George Karafotias

Partner

Email

gkarafotias@aoshearman.com

Phone

+1 212 848 4536

Offices

New York

V-CARD
George focuses on U.S. and cross-border M&A transactions, advising clients on public company transactions (negotiated and unsolicited/hostile), spin-offs, going private transactions, consortium bids, private M&A transactions, joint ventures and strategic investments, as well as on SEC, corporate governance and general corporate matters.

George regularly works closely with boards, special committees and senior management on their most complex and strategically significant transactions. He has advised on over $450 billion of successfully completed M&A transactions, and his work has been recognized in major legal directories and publications.

He has experience across a wide range of industry sectors, including mining and metals, chemicals, industrials, infrastructure, healthcare, food and agriculture, shipping and transportation, sport and financial services.

Expertise

Industries

Experience

Representative matters

  • GSK plc and GlaxoSmithKline LLC in connection with their tender offer for RAPT Therapeutics, Inc., for cash consideration of approximately USD2.2 billion.
  • Hapag-Lloyd AG, Germany, through its subsidiary Hanseatic Global Terminals (HGT), on the acquisition of the interests in Florida International Terminal, LLC (FIT) held by Agunsa USA, Inc. (Angusa), an affiliate of Chile based Grupo Empresas Navieras, and the dissolution of the underlying joint venture between HGT and Agunsa in relation to FIT.
  • Corporacion America Airports S.A. (CAAP), one of the world’s leading airport operators, on its transaction with the principal investment arm of the Government of Dubai, to acquire shares representing 25% of the capital interest in Corporacion America Italia S.p.A. (CAI) from ICD in exchange for 1,996,439 newly issued CAAP shares.
  • Despegar.com. Corp., a leading Latin American Online Travel Agency (OTA) listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Inc., in connection with its $1.7 billion acquisition by Prosus.
  • Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. in connection with its acquisition by Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. in a going-private transaction for USD454 million.
  • Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. and its wholly-owned subsidiary ITB Holding Brasil Participações Ltda. in connection with their tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding common shares (including common shares represented by ADSs) of Banco Itaú Chile that they do not already own, for consideration of approximately USD789 million.
  • Edificio Del Noroeste, S.A. de C.V. in its USD73.3 million cash tender offer for Industrias Bachoco, S.A.B. de C.V.
  • SWOCTEM GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Prof. Dr. E.h. Friedhelm Loh, in connection with its voluntary public takeover offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Klöckner & Co. SE.
  • Anglo American plc in connection with the proposed business combination between its nuGenTM Zero Emissions Haulage Solution and First Mode Holdings, Inc.
  • invoX Pharma, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sino Biopharmaceutical Limited, in connection with its tender offer for F-star Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, for approximately USD161 million.
  • The Olayan Group in connection with its acquisition (together with Rock Mountain Capital) of a 48% stake in PurposeBuilt Brands, Inc., a portfolio of leading specialty cleaning products and a portfolio company of funds managed by Carlyle and TA Associates.
  • Anglo American plc in connection with its investment in First Mode.
  • Oil Search Limited in connection with its business combination with Santos Limited pursuant to a scheme of arrangement under Papua New Guinea law to create a regional champion with a pro-forma market capitalization of approximately A21 billion.
  • Marubeni Corporation, INCJ Ltd, and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines on their disposal of Seejacks International to Eneti, Inc.
  • IG4 Capital in connection with its partial cash tender offer for NYSE and Peru-listed Aenza S.A.A.
  • The Conflicts Committee of the Board of Directors of Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in connection with its acquisition of 98% of the outstanding membership interests of Kashiv Specialty Pharmaceuticals, LLC.
  • Ardagh Glass Packaging Inc. in connection with its acquisition of a glass bottle manufacturing facility located in Houston, Texas from Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC.
  • Abertis and GIC in connection with their agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Red de Carreteras de Occidente (RCO), Mexico.
  • Ardagh Group S.A. in connection with the combination of its Food & Specialty Metal Packaging business with Element Holdings II L.P., and entity controlled by The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, to form Trivium Packaging.
  • ArcelorMittal in connection with its acquisition of Essar Steel and joint venture with Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation.
  • GlaxoSmithKline plc in connection with its tender offer for Tesaro Inc., for cash consideration of approximately USD5.1 billion.
  • Tele2 AB in connection with its stock and cash merger with Com Hem Holding AB, with value of approximately USD3.3 billion.
  • NYSE-listed Gener8 Maritime, Inc. in connection with its stock-for-stock merger with Euronav N.A. to create the leading independent large crude tanker operator with 75 crude tankers, including 44 very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and 28 Suezmax crude tankers.
  • Novartis in connection with its acquisition of Advanced Accelerator Applications S.A. for USD3.9 billion.
  • Dish TV India Limited and Videocon d2h Limited in connection with their amalgamation by way of scheme of arrangement and listing of new Dish TV GDRs on the LSE.
  • Barry Callebaut in connection with its acquisition of the ingredients business of Gertrude Hawk Chocolates, Inc.
  • Delek Group in connection with its offer to purchase the entire issued share capital of Ithaca Energy, Inc. (other than shares already owned by Delek Group) for C1.95 per share, or approximately C$681 million.
  • Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited in connection with its acquisition of NYSE-listed Allied World Assurance Company Holdings AG in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately USD4.9 billion.
  • The Supreme Petroleum Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in the grant to BP plc of a 10% interest in Abu Dhabi’s ADCO onshore oil concession, one of the world’s largest onshore concessions, and the issuance by BP plc of new ordinary shares representing approximately 2% of BP’s issued share capital, to be held on behalf of the Abu Dhabi Government.
  • State Grid International Development Limited, the largest Chinese state-owned enterprise, as the preferred strategic investor in connection with its acquisition of a 24% interest in Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMIE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Greece state-owned Public Power Corporation.
  • Sompo Holdings, Inc. in connection with its acquisition of NYSE-listed Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. for USD6.3 billion.
  • Ardagh Group S.A. in connection with its acquisition of certain beverage can manufacturing assets in Europe, Brazil and the United States from Ball Corporation and Rexam plc for an enterprise value of USD3.42 billion.
  • Delek Group Ltd in connection with its 20% investment in Ithaca Energy, Inc.
  • Qatar Holdings in its takeover offer (together with Brookfield Property Partners L.P.) for Songbird Estates plc., at a price of 350p per share, valuing Songbird at approximately £2.6 billion and with an enterprise value of approximately £5.6 billion.
  • Qatar Investment Authority in its acquisition of USD1.8 billion of exchangeable preferred equity securities of Brookfield Property L.P., a subsidiary of Brookfield Property Partners L.P.
  • Continental AG in connection with the restructuring of a joint venture.
  • GTIS Partners in its cash tender offer (together with GP Investments Ltd) to acquire up to all of the outstanding shares of BHG S.A. – Brazil Hospitality Group that GP Investments and its affiliates do not already own, at a price of R19.00 per share, valuing BHG at approximately R1.2 billion.
  • Credit Suisse as financial advisor to GTECH S.p.A. in connection with its acquisition of International Game Technology. Inc. for approximately USD4.7 billion.
  • Frigoglass S.A.I.C in connection with the sale of its glass container manufacturing operations, plastics activities and crown manufacturing in Nigeria and Dubai to GZI Mauritius Limited.
  • ArcelorMittal in its acquisition with Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (through a 50/50 joint venture partnership) of 100% of ThyssenKrupp Steel USA from ThyssenKrupp for USD1.55 billion.
  • ArcelorMittal in its US$1.1 billion sale of a 15% interest in a joint venture comprising ArcelorMittal’s Labrador Trough iron ore mining and infrastructure assets in Canada to a consortium led by POSCO of Korea and China Steel Corporation of Taiwan.
  • Itaú Unibanco in its public tender offer to non-controlling shareholders of Redecard SA for approximately USD5.17 billion.
  • Lecta S.A. in connection with its acquisition of Polyedra S.p.A. from PaperLinx Limited.
  • ArcelorMittal in connection with its sale of Skyline Steel to Nucor Corporation for approximately US$605 million.
  • Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Gleacher Shacklock as financial advisors to BAE Systems in connection with its proposed (abandoned) USD45 billion business combination with EADS.
  • Credit Suisse as financial advisor to BP in connection with the sale of its 50% shareholding in TNK-BP to Rosneft for approximately USD27 billion.
  • Charter International plc in connection with its £1.5 billion acquisition by Colfax Corporation.
  • Ardagh Glass Group S.A. in connection with its acquisition of Impress Coöperatieve U.A. for €1.7 billion.
  • Cadbury plc in connection with the unsolicited takeover proposal from and subsequent acquisition by Kraft Foods Inc.
  • Mid Europa Partners in connection with its acquisition of a controlling stake in Invitel Holdings A/S and related debt restructuring, and with its subsequent tender offer for the remaining shares in Invitel Holdings A/S not already owned by Mid Europa Partners.
  • Pão de Açucar Group in connection with its acquisition of Ponto Frio for USD422 million.
  • AngloGold Ashanti Limited in connection with the sale of its joint venture interest in the Boddington Gold Mine in Western Australia to Newmont Mining Corporation for approximately US$1.1 billion.
  • BAE Systems plc in connection with its acquisition of Detica plc for approximately USD1.1 billion.
  • The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc in connection with its consortium acquisition of ABN AMRO Holding N.V. for approximately USD98 billion.
  • Norsk Hydro ASA in the merger of its oil and gas activities with Statoil ASA to create the world’s largest offshore operator with a market capitalization of approximately USD90 billion.
  • ArcelorMittal in its acquisition of Siderúrgica Lázaro Cárdenas las Truchas, S.A. de C.V., the leading long steel producer in Mexico, and BSRM Holdings, Inc., a mini-mill in Texas, United States for a combined enterprise value of USD1.4 billion.
  • Indian Hotels Company Limited, a member of the Tata Group, in connection with its investment in Orient-Express Hotels Ltd.
  • Rio Tinto plc in its strategic investment in Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.
  • The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of HCA Inc. in connection with HCA Inc.’s going private transaction valued at approximately USD33 billion.
  • The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of ARAMARK in connection with ARAMARK’s going private transaction valued at approximately USD8.3 billion.
  • Arcelor S.A. in its acquisition of Dofasco Inc. for C5.6 billion.
  • ABN AMRO Bank N.V. and Morgan Stanley & Co. Limited as financial advisors to Euronext N.V. in connection with its merger with NYSE Group, Inc. to create the world’s largest securities exchange with a market capitalization of approximately USD20 billion.
  • Embraer-Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica S.A. in its corporate restructuring and listing on the Novo Mercado segment of the São Paulo Stock Exchange.
  • PetroChina Company Limited in its privatization of Jilin Chemical Industrial Company Ltd. pursuant to the first general offer for a PRC company with domestic “A” shares listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and foreign invested “H” shares listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.
  • AngloGold Limited in its acquisition of Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited pursuant to the first scheme of arrangement effected under Ghanaian law.
  • Fiat S.p.A. in its strategic alliance with General Motors.

Leadership Positions And Professional Affiliations

  • Founding Member, Advisory Board for the Masters in Law and Finance Program (a joint program of the Law Faculty and Saïd Business School) at University of Oxford, 2009–2017

Awards

  • Private Equity Deal of the Year, 2026 – LatinFinance
  • Private Equity Deal of the Year, IFLR Americas, 2022
  • Private Equity Deal of the Year, Latin Lawyer, 2022
  • Deal of the Year, S&P Platts Global Metals Awards, 2020
  • Deal of the Year, Lloyd’s List Global Awards, 2018
  • M&A Deal of the Year, IFLR Europe, 2019
  • South American Deal of the Year, M&A Atlas Awards, 2013
  • M&A Deal of the Year, IFLR Europe, 2012
  • M&A Deal of the Year, IFLR Europe, 2008

Qualifications

Admissions

New York, 1999

Academic

BCom, University of Adelaide, 1994
LLB (Hons), University of Adelaide, 1995
Hons LLB (Thesis), University of Adelaide, 1997
LLM, University of Pennsylvania, 1998

Disclaimer
A&O Shearman was formed on May 1, 2024 by the combination of Shearman & Sterling LLP and Allen & Overy LLP and their respective affiliates (the legacy firms). Any matters referred to above may include matters undertaken by one or more of the legacy firms rather than A&O Shearman.