Meila Burgess

Meila is a Managing Associate based in the firm’s London office. She has a broad range of experience in M&A transactions, joint ventures, corporate reorganisations and corporate governance, with particular experience in global carve out transactions across the Consumer and Healthcare sectors. She also spent ten months on secondment in the corporate legal team at Unilever.

Work highlights

• Perfetti Van Melle: advising on the US$1.35bn acquisition of Mondelez’s developed-market gum business in Europe and North America.

• Thermo Fisher: advising on the £2.3bn acquisition of The Binding Site group, a Birmingham-based life sciences company focussing on the research, development, production and sale of specialist medical diagnostic products which detect and monitor types of bone marrow cancer, from a group of sellers led by Nordic Capital.

• Unilever PLC: advising on the €4.5bn sale of the world’s leading tea business with a portfolio of 34 leading brands (including PG Tips, Pukka, T2 and TAZO), 11 factories and three tea estates in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania to CVC Capital Partners, including a complex pre-acquisition carve out.

• Takeda Pharmaceuticals International AG: advising on the €350m sale of its haemostasis product TachoSil to Corza Health, Inc.

• Unilever PLC: advising on the €6.825bn sale of the global baking, cooking and spreads business to KKR.

• National Grid: advising on its £13.8bn sale of a 61% equity interest in its UK gas distribution business to a consortium of long-term infrastructure investors, including pre-acquisition reorganisations.

Prior to joining Linklaters in 2016, Meila practiced as a lawyer at Allens in Brisbane, Australia. 

Meila graduated with First Class Honours from the Queensland University of Technology in a Bachelor of Laws and Biotechnology. She is dual qualified in both Queensland, Australia and England and Wales.