Tax issues on stake sales and investment into managers: structuring, pitfalls and steps to take now
About
Justin advises on all aspects of domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, including acquisitions, disposals, restructurings and joint ventures, with a particular focus on private acquisitions and private equity.
Justin has advised on a wide range of private equity transactions, acting for sponsors, management teams and portfolio companies at all stages of the investment cycle. Justin works closely with the firm’s real estate practice on corporate transactions involving real estate assets and businesses that are heavily asset-backed.
Having trained and qualified at Macfarlanes, as an associate Justin also spent time on secondment at a leading law firm in New York, an international commodities trader in Geneva and a private equity firm in London specialising in turnaround and growth investments.
Justin is a partner champion of our REACH (race, ethnicity and cultural heritage) staff network, a forum for networking and peer support between minority ethnic staff and allies.
Alongside our PERE team, Justin has produced an operational real estate report, which considers the scale of the market opportunity in the UK, how operational real estate can be accessed, and some of the key structuring and governance considerations. This significant structural trend continues to grow and impact virtually every real estate sector.
Experience
- Advising long-standing client Supermarket Income REIT Plc, the real estate investment trust dedicated to investing in supermarket properties, on a strategic joint venture with funds managed by Blue Owl Capital, a leading US alternative asset manager.
- Advising Cedar Capital Partners on recapitalisation of European Lifestyle Hotel Portfolio with Ares Management.
- Advising long-standing client J. C. Flowers & Co. on the consortium arrangements with TowerBrook Capital Partners and Railsr shareholders relating to the all-cash offer by that consortium for Equals Group plc.
- Advising Rocco Forte Hotels on the terms of the sale of a significant minority stake to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
- Advising PMG on its acquisition of RocketMill, a leading independent, full service digital marketing agency.
- Advising private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co on the sale of its shares in direct-to-consumer investing platform Interactive Investor to abrdn, one of the largest European investment and wealth managers, for approximately £1.49bn.
- Advising Charme Capital Partners, Livingbridge and the management team on the sale of the Witherslack Group to Mubadala.
- Advising American private equity firm, KPS Capital Partners, on the English law aspects of its acquisition of the European tinplate business of New York-listed Crown Holdings Inc in a transaction valuing the business at €2.25bn.
- Advising J.C. Flowers & Co and Bain Capital Credit on their joint acquisition of a minority stake in The Co-Operative Bank.
- Advising the senior management team and majority shareholders of M7 Real Estate on their agreement to sell the UK-headquartered real estate investment firm to Oxford Properties, the real estate arm of Canadian pension fund OMERS.
- Advising long-standing client Stanhope and its joint venture partners, Mitsui Fudosan and AIMCo, on the sale of their mixed-use White City Place development in West London to Canadian property management company Cadillac Fairview.
- 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 Realstar Group, the Canadian real estate investment company, on the corporate acquisition of a build-to-rent scheme in Ilford from Beverly Hills-based real estate company Kennedy Wilson.
- Advising Quilam Capital on strategic partnership with Wafra Capital Partners.
- Advising Drumaville (the ownership vehicle of Ellis Short IV) on his sale of Sunderland Football Club to a consortium of other investors.
- Acting for Patron Capital on the sale of its 50 per cent interest in Cala Homes to L&G.
- Advising Charme Capital Partners, the pan-European mid-market private equity firm, on its acquisitions of the Witherslack Group, a UK-based specialist education and care provider, and JD Classics, the market-leading premium classic cars dealer and restorer.
- Acting for the trustee of the South Downs Employee Benefit Trust and other shareholders on the sale of South Downs Capital Limited, the holding company of Portsmouth Water, to funds managed by Ancala Partners.