Pitch Best Young M&A Lawyer 2021: Denise Ozmis, Baker McKenzie
Bekijk alle pitches & stem direct
Company: Baker McKenzie
Job Description: Senior Associate
Age: 33
What are the specialties of this talent?
Our clients and the members of our Amsterdam Corporate M&A team have known it for some time: if you need to select a successful deal team, Denise Ozmis should definitely be one of your first choices. Denise is a smart, ambitious lawyer who brings much more than legal knowledge to the negotiating table. Our clients and our team benefit from a valuable combination of her legal expertise, her experience as in-house attorney at blue-chip Dutch company AkzoNobel, and her enviable talent for connecting people and closing deals. Denise focuses her practice on representing multinational clients on their (private and public) M&A activities and Equity Capital Markets transactions.
Representative legal matters include advising:
– Acquisition for Maersk in the e-commerce business;
– Multiple acquisitions for a German multinational in the recycling business;
– IPO of Mytheresa Parent Netherlands B.V.;- An animal nutrition company in its acquisition of a stake in an industry player;
– Wagram Equity Partners on the acquisition of the Creamy Creation Business from FrieslandCampina;
– Embracer in its EUR 115 million acquisition of Vertigo Games, a virtual reality game studio;
– A global product testing and certification company in its acquisition of assets in the Netherlands;
– Equinix Inc., the global interconnection and data center company, on its USD 1 billion joint venture with GIC.;
– Audax Private Equity in connection with the acquisition of Pointer Branch Protection;
– Grundfos, a Danish company with a focus on water pumps, in the acquisition of Solvermedia;
– A global cosmetic brand on its acquisition of cosmetic stores in the Netherlands;
– Trimble Inc. on the acquisition of Stabiplan Holding B.V.;
– Koolen Industries on its multimillion-euro investment in Hardt Hyperloop;
– A Dutch retail company for toys on the sale of its stores to a private equity firm;
– A Chinese company with its public offer on a Dutch entity;- Regularly advises on Dutch corporate governance requirements.
How does the talent distinguish itself from its peers?
Before joining Baker McKenzie as an M&A lawyer, Denise advised on M&A transactions and corporate governance matters as in-house attorney at AkzoNobel. After her graduation, she decided to join AkzoNobel rather than starting her career at one of the prestigious law firms on Amsterdam's Zuidas. Denise felt that she could develop and achieve her goals faster there in more ways than one. A smart move, Denise was quickly noticed and after a few years of M&A work she worked for the Executive Committee. She was working at AkzoNobel at the time PPG initiated its attempt to take-over the company and she learned a lot from the impact this had on the business and people. Working at AkzoNobel gave her a good insight into the corporate world, how decisions are made at board level, but also how corporate legal and business teams think and work and what they expect from their lawyers (whether in-house or external).
Denise eventually moved to an international law firm on the Zuidas because she was eager to obtain more "vlieguren" by working at a law firm with more frequent M&A transactions. The reason for choosing Baker McKenzie was obvious: working in small teams, which gives ambitious lawyers like Denise a steep learning curve. Denise is of Turkish descent and growing up in two cultures taught her from a young age how to connect people. The ability to connect is an essential trait and quality when it comes to closing a successful deal, as well as in business development. One of the Executive Committee members at AkzoNobel once told her that these qualities Denise brought with her because of her background, cost him a fortune in schools and education to teach his children. Her combination of legal expertise, experience as an in-house attorney, talent for connecting people and getting things done sets Denise apart from other young M&A lawyers.
What impact does the talent have within the organization?
Denise plays a key role in recruiting new associates to our M&A team. Some examples of her people tasks include the coordination and management of the M&A intern committee to recruit, scout and retain talent and coaching associates to manage time, work, demand and quality of deliverables. She supervises and helps to supervise the mid-level and junior associates within the Corporate M&A group and makes time and effort to invest in their development and in building a positive team and safe working environment with room for personal growth and development by means of mentoring / patroon conversations. Denise also likes to share her knowledge internally through our own Baker Academy. Recently, she gave a presentation about the IPO of luxury e-commerce platform Mytheresa on the NYSE, Denise was part of the deal team.
What impact does the talent have outside the organization?
Denise is of Turkish descent; her parents were born in Turkey. Denise is the first grandchild in her family and the bar was set high. Denise met these expectations, started her legal career at a young age and is now a Senior Associate in the Amsterdam M&A team of the international transactional firm Baker McKenzie. Denise has a strong presence on LinkedIn, in the legal directories, but also in the Turkish community. Denise is regularly invited for coffee by young, ambitious students from different cultural backgrounds. She is always willing to share her experiences and give advice, as she strongly believes that Zuidas should be a reflection of society. Just like in our very diverse M&A team.
To what extent does the talent make the difference to clients?
Denise is committed to lead deals from start to finish. Her time at AkzoNobel has also taught her to explain things in an understandable matter when trying to getting things done at the same time. Our Amsterdam M&A partner Mohammed Almarini issetting the bar high for his M&A team so getting this responsibility means a lot.
Why does the talent deserve this nomination?
Denise is a Young Talent who will quickly make strides not only in leading deal teams, but also within Baker McKenzie. We expect a lot from Denise Ozmis and she would be a great Best Young Talent this year.
