Saba Rais

Saba Rais is a Partner in the Executive Compensation practice at Goodwin. She joined Goodwin in 2022.

Saba advises companies on the design, implementation and operation of a wide range of employee share plans and executive remuneration arrangements for both public and private companies, with a particular focus on the technology and life science sectors. She has extensive experience on the share plan aspects of major corporate transactions, in particular takeovers and flotations. Saba advises on all share plan-related matters including tax, global, compliance, trust and nominee arrangements, administration, employment, and corporate governance issues.

Recent Experience Includes Representation of:

• Freetrade on its acquisition by IG Group for an enterprise value of £160 million. Freetrade is a fast-growing, commission-free, self-directed investment platform which provides a range of products including global stocks and ETFs, fractional shares UK Treasury bills, ISAs, SIPPs, securities lending, and proxy voting
• Cytora on its acquisition by Applied Systems. Cytora is the pioneer of Generative AI applied to commercial insurance workflows that digitize risk workflows at unparalleled levels of performance, configurability, and scalability across the enterprise
• TLC Worldwide on its investment from bd-capital to accelerate growth across new and existing geographies and products. TLC is the global market leader in tech-enabled, experience-based reward campaigns and loyalty programs
• NortonLifeLock Inc., a NASDAQ-listed provider of consumer cyber safety solutions, on its recommended case and stock merger with FTSE100 company Avast plc, a leading global cybersecurity provider, in a transaction attributing an enterprise value to Avast of up to $9.2bn*
• Epiris on an investment by global investment firm HPS investment Partners into its portfolio company Nucleus*
• Siris Capital Group advising private equity firm Siris Capital Group, LLC on its £673m recommended bid for Equiniti Group plc.*
• Smith & Williamson on the restructuring of Tilney merger and Warburg Pincus investment*
• Northern Gritstone, a new investment business focused on university spinouts in the North of England on establishing incentive arrangements for its portfolio companies*
• Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (now Capri Holdings Ltd.) on its £896m recommended cash acquisition of Jimmy Choo*
• Shawbrook Bank on its £868m takeover offer from a private equity firm*
• SEGRO PLC on its rights issue to raise £573m*
• Spotify Technology S.A. on its New York Stock Exchange IPO*
• Farfetch Limited on its New York Stock Exchange IPO*
• Advising the trustees of two employee benefit trusts who were the majority shareholders of Walker Books on the sale of the company to Trustbridge Global Media*
• Advising various companies on the set up and operation of tax efficient EMI and CSOP option plans
• Assisting listed companies with corporate governance and remuneration report disclosure requirements
• Advising on the establishment of a management incentive plan for directors over multiple jurisdictions

*Denotes Experience prior to joining Goodwin

Saba Rais is recognised by the Legal 500 UK for Employee Share Schemes.

Client testimonials note: 

• 'Saba Rais is a pleasure to work with, knowledgeable and practical with a broad range of experience.'
• 'Practice is efficient, responsive, and practical.
• 'Strength of team, practical approach.'