Denis Uvarov

Denis has over 25 years of experience advising on private M&A, joint ventures and corporate reorganisations. He has advised a wide range of clients across all significant industry sectors on their strategic deals, including in emerging markets.

Work highlights

His most notable deals include advising:

• FinTech JV: advising Ant Financial (Alipay) onsetting up an e-payments joint venture in relation to financial and digital payment services between Alipay, USM, Mail.ru, MegaFon and a sovereign wealth fund
• E-commerce JV: advising Sberbank on the acquisition of a 45% stake in Yandex Market B.V. and setting up a US$1bn e-commerce joint venture with Yandex N.V. on the Yandex.Market platform, a leading Russian 1P and 3P marketplace
• Telecom JV: advising Rostelecom on its US$7.4bn joint venture with Tele2 Russia creating the fourth leading Russian telco
• Tender Offer for a Payment Platform: advising Otkritie Holding on a tender offer to purchase up to 55% of the outstanding class B ordinary shares of Nasdaq listed QIWI plc
• Upstream JV: advising Rosneft on its joint venture with Sonatrach, the Algerian state-owned oil and gas company, in relation to exploration and development of Block 245 South in Algeria
• Sale of Fertiliser Business: advising the controlling shareholder on the US$6.32bn sale of its entire stake in Uralkali, a leading global potash manufacturer, to a consortium of investors
• Acquisition of Fertilizer Business: advising Uralkali on the acquisition of 50% in FertGrow S.A., one of the leading fertiliser producers in Brazil
• Sale of Food Retail: advising selling shareholders on the US$680m sale of 100% of Victoria Group to Dixy Group, a direct competitor, in consideration for cash and shares of Dixy Group, and the resulting shareholders’ arrangements
• Food & Beverages Acquisition: advising PepsiCo on the US$6bn acquisition of Wimm-Bill-Dann, a leading Russian food and beverage company
• OTC Pharma spin-off: advising Pharmstandard, the leading Russian pharmaceutical company, in relation to a spin-off of its OTC business

See more in professional experience 

Denis has worked at the Firm’s offices in London, Paris and Moscow over the course of his career.

His further deals include advising:

• Mining & Metals JV: advising SUAL on the US$30bn merger between RUSAL, SUAL, and the aluminium and alumina assets of Glencore to create UC RUSAL, the world’s largest aluminium producer
• Redomicile of Mining & Metals Company: advising J.P. Morgan Securities Ltd. on the re-domiciliation of Polyus Gold International Limited by means of Jersey scheme under a premium London listing
• Sale of Metallurgical Coal Business: advising LSE listed Evraz Plc on the US$4bn proposed demerger of its metallurgical coal business
• Acquisition of Fertiliser Business: advising UralChem on the US$2.9bn acquisition of a 20% stake in Uralkali and related arrangements with Onexim Group, the acquirer of another stake in Uralkali
• Oil & Gas JV: advising BP on its US$20bn joint venture with Alfa, Access and Renova to form TNK-BP, one of the largest private oil companies in the world
• Acquisition of Pharma Company: advising Sanofi on its acquisition of a major Russian insulin manufacturer
• Acquisition of a Pharma company: advising Lupin on the acquisition of a Russian generics manufacturer
• Acquisition of Commercial Bank: advising Sberbank on the US$3.5bn acquisition of Denizbank, one of the largest banks in Turkey, from Dexia Group
• Investment Bank Acquisition: advising Sberbank on the US$1bn acquisition ofTroika Dialog, the largest independent investment bank in Russia
• Insurance Company Acquisition: advising AXA on the US$1bn acquisition of 37% of RESO Garantia, one of the largest Russian insurance companies, and related shareholders’ arrangements
• Food & Beverages JV: advising Nestlé on its 50:50 joint venture (Froneri) with PAI to merge in certain jurisdictions Nestlé’s ice cream and frozen food business with R&R Ice Cream, the third largest ice cream producer in Europe
• Partial sale of Agri Business: advising Glencore the US$3.1bn sale of an aggregate 49.99% stake in its agricultural business to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (40%) and to British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (9.99%)
• Sale of Automotive Business: advising Volkswagen on its sale of the Volkswagen and Scania Russian businesses to a local investor
• Acquisition of Internet Operator: advising MegaFon, a leading Russian telco, on the US$270m acquisition of NetByNet group of companies, a fixed broadband internet, digital TV and IP telephony operator

Denis studied at the Faculty of Law at the Moscow State University from 1989 to 1994. 

He speaks English and Russian.