Mike Francies is our Chair of Trustees.
Mike is a partner in the Sullivan & Cromwell’s Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Groups. Previously he was Co-Managing Partner at Weil, Gotshal and Manges, and was Managing Partner from 2000-2023.
Mike is widely regarded as one of Europe’s leading transactional lawyers advising private equity funds, corporates and financial institutions. His practice includes private equity and M&A transactions, joint ventures, IPOs and equity offerings, and corporate restructurings.
Client testimonials in leading business and legal publications highlight that Mike is a “superb choice of counsel for…high-value M&A deals” and “a first-class PE lawyer.” He is an “exceptional lawyer,” “phenomenally hard-working and universally respected,” known for his “attentiveness and versatility” and for bringing “a depth of experience and delivering a great service.”
Over the years, Mike has received widespread recognition from across the industry including: reported by The Lawyer as the most recommended Private Equity lawyer in the UK by general counsel; featured in Private Equity Manager magazine’s ‘Legal Power 30’ list of the 30 most influential private equity lawyers; shortlisted as one of the UK’s Top Innovative Lawyers in the FT Innovative Lawyers Awards; awarded “Partner of the Year” at The Lawyer Awards; recognised as “Deal Lawyer of the Year” at the Legal Business Awards; and listed in The Times’ “Law 100: UK’s Most Powerful Lawyers.”
I have seen the incredible impact of Power2’s work on young people both during my time at Weil and more recently from my visits to see it in action in schools; it was heartwarming to see how the teens and the toddlers
responded to each other.
I have always been a big supporter of initiatives that help young people achieve their potential and overcome their challenges (as the Whitney Houston song says “the children are our future”).
