Eleanor Shanks
Eleanor advises clients on complex private equity transactions, including acquisitions and disposals and joint ventures, across sectors which include food and agriculture, technology, infrastructure, financial and business services and healthcare and life sciences.
In addition to buy-outs, co-investments and secondary transactions, she advises clients on shareholder arrangements, including management incentive plans, corporate governance and investment matters.
Her clients include leading sponsors, investors and funds (including sovereign wealth funds and family offices), financial institutions and their investee companies.
She also has extensive experience advising on regulatory matters, in particular in transactions with a cross-border dimension, as well as ongoing and regulatory compliance.
Eleanor is consistently recognized for Private Equity in The Legal 500 UK including in 2023, 2024 and 2025, where clients comment: "Eleanor is not only one of the best technical lawyers in the City but also the kind of lawyer you want captaining your ship in a storm. She knows exactly what she is doing, is graceful under (often) immense pressure and always delivers her deals on time and above expectations."
In 2016, Eleanor was named in the Financial News “Top 40 Under 40 Rising Stars in Legal Services.” She was also named the “Most Distinguished Winner” and awarded “Best Private Equity Lawyer” at the Women in Private Equity Awards 2015. Eleanor is a member of the London Private Equity practice that was honored as “Private Equity Team of the Year” in the 2021 Legal Business Awards and the Global Private Equity practice that was honored as a 2022 “Practice Group of the Year” by Law360.
Eleanor was the youngest woman ever to join the Court of the City of London Solicitors Company, the lawyers Livery company, and served an extended term on the Court before, during and after the pandemic. She continues to serve on the City of London Solicitors Company’s Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Working Group.
Experience
Blackstone and Round Hill Capital
on the acquisition of a facilities management operating company and large privately owned rental residential real estate company.
British Business Bank
on various equity investments.
Cerberus European Capital
on a potential European billion plus acquisition.
Colony Capital
on its acquisition of two Geneva hospitals from HCA Inc.
EQT
Advised EQT on multiple transactions, including:
- on its acquisition alongside Icon Group of the Pharmaxo Group
- on various investments in a leading education buy and build platform.
First Reserve
on two acquisitions and various regulatory and UK and European securities matters.
GIC
Advised GIC on multiple transactions, including:
- on a major real estate joint venture and certain other real estate sector investments.
- on its bid for an oil field services company.
- on its investment in Greenko Energy Group.
- on its investment in Rothesay and the acquisition of a stake from Goldman Sachs alongside Blackstone and Massachusetts Mutual in an asset valued at GBP 5.75 billion.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management
on multiple investments, including its investment in tech platform LumApps and its investment in Wolt, a Finnish headquartered food-delivery platform.
Intel Capital
on various equity investments.
Investcorp
Advised Investcorp on multiple transactions, including:
- on the sale of Hilding Anders.
- on its acquisition of Asiakastieto, Finland's biggest business and credit information company.
- on its global offer and listing of Global Deposit Receipts on the London Stock Exchange.
- on its acquisition of Icopal AS for NOK 6.4 billion.
Kraft Foods Inc.
on its acquisition of Cadbury PLC and various subsequent transactions.
KSL Capital Partners
on the acquisition of the Malmaison and Hotel du Vin chains of hotels in the United Kingdom
LOC Group
and its senior management on its sale by Bridgepoint to AqualisBraemar.
Marlin Financial Group
and its senior management on its secondary from Duke Street to Cabot Credit Management (backed by JC Flowers and Encore Group).
MetlLife Investment Management
on its acquisition of Affirmative Investment Management.
Napier Park Global Capital
on its joint venture with Ethical Power Group to form Lynher Energy to invest in battery storage assets and in relation to initial proposed investments.
Oaktree
Advised Oaktree on multiple transactions, including:
- on its successful bid for a major UK rail leasing company.
- on various competitive bids for potential acquisition in the financial services sector and portfolio transactions, including an in excess of USD 3.2 million acquisition of a mortgage lending platform and loan portfolio.
Olympia
on various investments, including Play and various telecommunications and tech investments.
Partners Group
Advised Partners Group on multiple transactions, including:
- on a major joint venture investment in Switzerland with Rockspring Property Investment Managers and acquisition of a controlling stake in a real estate holding company.
- on its investment in a leading luggage manufacturer.
- on its investment in a major restaurant chain.
- on major buy-and-build platform and related acquisitions.
- on Partners Group's Brexit restructuring of its AIFM and broader asset management group in Europe.
- on the establishment, build out, and expansion of the shareholder base of International Schools Partnership, a leading international group of K-12 schools.
StepStone
Advised StepStone on multiple transactions, including:
- on a bid for a major infrastructure asset.
- on its investment in the acquisition of a one third stake in Scotia Gas Networks Ltd (SGN) from SSE by a consortium of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and Brookfield Super-Core Infrastructure Partners.
- on various UK investment and regulatory matters.
Third Point
on various investments in relation to the major insolvent Icelandic financial institutions and subsequent investments in technology and communications.
Ticketmaster
on its USD 2.5 billion merger with Live Nation.
Total
on a USD 1.7 billion investment in one of its African upstream businesses by a major Middle Eastern investor.
TPG RE
on the acquisition of TriGranit, one of Europe's largest privately owned developers and managers of retail and office assets, purchasing nearly 30 vehicles in five countries and TriGranit's development and asset management platform.
Rankings
Recommended Individual for Private Equity: Transactions - Mid-market deals (up to £500m)
Legal 500 UK 2026
Lawyer of the Year - Private Equity
Women in Business Law EMEA Awards 2025
Recognized as a Notable Practitioner for Private Equity
IFLR1000 2026