Max Chapman

About Max Chapman

Max is a corporate associate in Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s global transactions group in Abu Dhabi. Max specialises in cross-border public and private M&A and joint ventures, with a focus on advising global financial investors.

Prior to joining Freshfields, Max worked for a White Shoe firm in Hong Kong and trained at a top-tier firm in Sydney. He is qualified to practice in New South Wales, Australia.

Recent work

A number of high-profile regional sovereign wealth funds on a variety of matters, including private equity, infrastructure and real estate investments in assets in Asia, Europe and the UK.

Mubadala Capital, the wholly owned asset management subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company PJSC (the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund with over $200bn of assets under management) on:

• its buyout of the Forfar Education business from Revcap, a European real estate investor (completed 2024); and
• its £560m leveraged buy-out of the Witherslack Group, one of the UK’s biggest providers of homes and schools for young people with special educational needs, from funds managed by Charme Capital Partners and Livingbridge, who rolled over into the new structure alongside management (completed 2021).

Alpha Dhabi Holding PJSC (ADX: Alphadhabi), one of the fastest growing Abu Dhabi based investment holding companies with more than 100 businesses spread across various industries, on:

• the formation of a 50:50 joint venture platform with ADNOC Drilling Company PJSC to invest up to $1.5 billion in the oilfield services sector and the related contribution of the seed asset to the JV (completed 2024); and
• (i) the formation of a joint venture with Monterock International Limited, a Dubai-based financial investor, to invest in hospitality assets around the world; and (ii) the contribution of Monterock’s stake in European luxury lifestyle group Nammos to the joint venture (completed 2022).

Panther Media Group (OSN), the Dubai-based satellite TV and video-on-demand streaming company, on the asset-for-share contribution of its video streaming business to NASDAQ-listed Anghami Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGH), through which transaction OSN became the majority shareholder of Anghami, the leading MENA audio streaming provider (completed 2024).

Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan, as joint financial advisers to MBK Partners, on MBK Partners’ US$1.1bn voluntary general offer under the Hong Kong Takeovers Code to acquire CAR Inc., China’s largest car rental company (completed 2020).*

The Series C investors in Ant Group, the digital payments arm of Alibaba, on their exit by way of participation in the high profile and aborted IPO and listing of Ant Group on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (2020).*

A confidential U.S. private equity investor on the auction sale process for the disposal of its minority investment in a privately-held Chinese insurer to two major European financial institutions (2019).*

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, on the US$5.75 billion spin-off listing of its Asia-Pacific business on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (2019).*

Aqualand, a Chinese residential property developer, on its PIPE investment in McGrath Limited, an ASX-listed real estate agency (2018).*

* Denotes experience gained prior to joining Freshfields