Simon Witney

Simon Witney is a Special Counsel based in the London office. He is a member of the Private Equity, Funds/Investment Management and Business Integrity Groups. Mr. Witney is one of the market’s most prominent private equity lawyers. Both Real Deals magazine and Private Equity International magazine have named him amongst the most influential figures in private equity.

Mr. Witney is a regular speaker and commentator on company law, corporate governance and regulatory matters, and has advised private equity clients as well as the UK Government on a wide range of fund and transactional matters over the last two decades.

A prominent member of the UK and European private equity communities, Mr. Witney has served in senior positions within the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) over a number of years. He is currently a member of the BVCA Council, which is responsible for the BVCA's strategic direction and oversight, and previously chaired the BVCA’s Legal and Accounting Committee. He is a past Chair of Invest Europe’s Tax, Legal and Regulatory Committee and a current member of its Financial Services/Regulatory Working Group and Professional Standards Committee. Mr. Witney has also been a member of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association’s Legal & Regulatory Council.

Mr. Witney received his B.A. from the University of Oxford in 1989 and his M.Phil. from the University of Leicester in 1990. He obtained his MBA (Distinction) in 1995 from INSEAD and in 2017 completed his Ph.D. on corporate governance issues in private equity-backed companies at the London School of Economics.

Simon is a Visiting Professor in Practice in the Law Department at London School of Economics and Political Science, where he also teaches on the LLM programme.

Education

• University of Leicester, Master
• University of Oxford, B.A.