Ravi Goonesena

I specialise in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, investment and shareholder agreements and in commercial and trading contracts across diverse business sectors, with particular experience of corporate real estate transactions and a focus on the UK trading and investment activities of international groups and wealthy oversea families.

I act for multinational conglomerates, financial institutions and owner-managed family businesses as well as family offices and ultra-high net worth individuals. Sectors include consumer goods, construction and property, food, hotels and leisure, paper and packaging, retail and TMT.

I am a director of the Turkish-British Chamber of Commerce and Industry and lead our Türkiye desk.

I am passionate about education and acted for many years as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Hult International Business School in London. I now chair the corporate trustee of Ashridge (Bonar Law Memorial) Trust, which runs Hult Ashridge (formerly Ashridge Business School).

• Advising the shareholders of ZI Group, a leading AI-powered consumer insights platform used by major global brands, including PepsiCo, McDonald's and Heineken, on a $170m investment from funds advised by Sumeru Equity Partners, a leading US PE house.
• Advising Eren Paper on the successful acquisition of Shotton Paper Mill in Wales. The transaction completed in Q3 2021 and we are now advising on the construction phase. The total investment is over 1.5bn Euro and constitutes one of the most significant inward investments by a Turkish Group into the UK and one of the largest by any oversea company into North Wales in recent years. Planned production at the facility will turn the UK from a net importer to net exporter of containerboard.
• Acting for UK telecoms company in a Series B financing by major US PE Group and in subsequent venture – backed financing. Advising on the subsequent sale of the Company to South-East Asian group.
• Advising prominent Turkish family office on acquisition of two trophy real estate assets in Mayfair, via the acquisition of on-shore and off-shore SPV’s and in subsequent private bank financing.
• Advising NYSE listed group (the largest operator of K-12 schools in China) on the acquisition of three UK private schools.
• Acting for privately owned UK financial services provider in strategic investment by FTSE listed financial services group and in subsequent group re-organisation.
• Acting in a series of bolt-on acquisitions by a leading UK manufacturer of bathroom products and in subsequent group restructurings and asset and cash-flow financings.
• Acting for a large Turkish hotels group in the acquisition of a prominent UK hotel.