Bio

Edwin Northover is an Asia-based corporate partner and Head of Financial Institutions in Asia. Mr. Northover has a broad cross-border public and private mergers & acquisitions practice, with a particular focus on mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures and distribution agreements in the insurance industry. Mr. Northover is recommended by Chambers Asia-Pacific (2021) for Insurance: Non-contentious, where he wins praise for his commercial acumen and technical judgement, with clients noting that “he’s a very skilled and competent lawyer” who “understands the underlying commercial and strategic requirements of the client and focuses on ensuring those are achieved.” He is also described as “an excellent negotiator – always calm, balanced and unflustered and never one to seek to antagonise the other side, but always remaining focused on getting the deal done.” In previous editions of the guide he has been described as a “very talented lawyer” who is “very responsive and pragmatic” and is noted for his “extensive knowledge of bancassurance arrangements across Asia-Pacific.” Mr. Northover is also recommended for Mergers & Acquisitions and Insurance in the 2021 edition of The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, which has described him as “approachable” and a “very good negotiator.” He is also recommended by IFLR1000 (2020). Mr. Northover has worked on several of the most significant insurance M&A transactions in Asia. He also has extensive private equity experience, having worked on a number of strategic and co-investments. Mr. Northover joined Debevoise in 2007 and was based in our London office prior to his move to Asia in 2012. He is qualified in both England & Wales and Hong Kong. During 2013, Mr. Northover spent six months on secondment to the Mergers & Acquisitions team of a multinational insurance company in Paris. In 2015, he spent a period in the Financial Institutions Group of our New York office. Mr. Northover graduated in 2001 with a Double First Class Honours degree in Modern History from Merton College, University of Oxford. He went on to study at BPP Law School, London (2002–2003). Prior to joining Debevoise, Mr. Northover was an associate in the Corporate/M&A group of a leading international law firm. He was admitted as a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England & Wales in 2006 and Hong Kong in 2013.