James Anderson is head of Skadden’s European tax practice.
Anderson is highly experienced in private capital arrangements, with a particular focus on the establishment and ongoing operations of asset management structures; investments in liquid markets, infrastructure, crypto, real estate and credit; and compensation for private capital principals.
He regularly counsels on the full range of public capital markets transactions, including IPOs, SPACs and structured debt offerings. He has also advised various governments on new corporate and tax laws. Recently, his practice has focused on new intersections between private capital and technology, particularly in high-frequency, algorithmic and augmented intelligence trading sectors, as well as handling corporate groups’ planning in response to Pillar 2.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Tax Lawyers | 2026 | Tax, Private Equity, International |
| The Inaugural Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Tax Lawyers | 2025 | Tax, Private Equity, International |
His transaction highlights include representing:
- Kraken Technologies Limited in its spin-out from Octopus Energy at an $8.65 billion valuation
- Cranemere in various cross-border planning and transactional matters
- Nasdaq in:
- the sale of its subsidiary Simplitium Limited to Verisk Inc.
- its £2.7 billion proposed acquisition of the London Stock Exchange plc
- V Sports S.C.S., the holding company of the Aston Villa Football Club Limited, in the tax aspects of its investment in V Sports by Atairos Management, L.P.
- SDC Capital Partners LLC in connection with various investments of SDC portfolio companies into data centre or data centre-related projects in Germany and other European countries
- Neuberger Berman Group LLC in the business combination, reported at $12.5 billion, of Owl Rock Capital Group and the Dyal Capital Partners division of Neuberger Berman to form Blue Owl Capital
- Jane Street Group LLC in connection with its U.K. and U.S. structure
- Pret A Manger Ltd, a portfolio company of JAB Holding Company LLC, in its acquisition of EAT Limited
- BTG Pactual in its:
- acquisition of Ariel Reinsurance, a Bermuda-based property and casualty reinsurance company
- acquisition of BSI, the Swiss-based private banking group owned by Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A., for CHF1.5 billion
- Legg Mason, Inc. in its acquisition of Fauchier Partners LLP, a manager of funds of hedge funds, from BNP Paribas Investment Partners
- Barclays Bank in a spin-out of an equity trading desks to a separate fund platform in Bermuda, New York and London
- WeWork on its SEC IPO documentation and structure
- C12 Management in the spin-out by Barclays Bank of $12.3 billion in credit market assets into a separate fund platform (Protium)
- a U.S.-based algorithmic trading business in the establishment of a U.K. disaster recovery site
Anderson handles a wide range of tax controversy matters and has worked on enquiries by the U.K. revenue authorities, tax court cases, disclosure programmes, transfer pricing disputes, APAs and MAPs, as well as various settlement negotiations. He also has experience in complex cross-border inter partes tax disputes.