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Corporate and M&A

We advise clients on domestic and cross-border public and private transactions as well as on governance and regulatory issues. We use our market knowledge to anticipate clients' needs and help them achieve their aims with a bespoke service that is client-focused and delivers on our commitment to excellence.

  • From large ground-breaking to mid-market transactions, we cover a wide spectrum in terms of both complexity and size without compromising on the quality of our service.
  • We have a proven ability to handle the most complex and demanding equity capital markets work for our clients. Acting for a mixture of issuers, sponsors and shareholders means that we understand corporate transactions from every angle.
  • Our partners counsel boards and senior executives in relation to the full range of corporate governance and regulatory compliance issues. Our advice is delivered with an understanding of the commercial objectives of the business and an understanding of the sector and environment in which it is operating.

Expertise:

Recent work

Greenergy

Advising Greenergy, a leading British fuel supplier, on a major investment by Brookfield Business Partners, part of Canadian alternative asset management group Brookfield.

GAME Digital plc

Advising GAME Digital plc, the leading omni-channel specialist retailer of video games in the UK and Spain, on its IPO on the premium segment of the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, with an initial market capitalisation of £340m.

Improbable

Advising Improbable, a UK-based virtual simulation start-up, on the raising of $502m in its latest financing round led by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp., with other previous investors also participating. This is the largest ever Series B investment in Europe and the biggest venture financing round by a private British company in history.

Supermarket Income REIT plc

Advising Supermarket Income REIT plc, a United Kingdom-based, closed-ended investment company, on its IPO on the specialist fund segment of the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, with an initial market capitalisation of £100m.

Visa Inc.

Advising Visa Inc. on its acquisition of Visa Europe Limited for a total value of €18.25bn.

Kennedy Wilson Holdings

Advising Kennedy Wilson Holdings on its £1.5bn public offer for the shares in Kennedy Wilson Europe that it did not own to create a $4bn combined entity.

Verizon Communications Inc.

Advising Verizon Communications Inc. on its acquisition of Vodafone’s 45 per cent interest in Verizon Wireless for $130bn. The transaction was implemented by way of a public scheme of arrangement. We also acted for Verizon on the acquisition of Fleetmatics for $2.4bn and the subsequent integration of Fleetmatics within the Verizon group structure.

Altria Group, Inc.

Advising Altria Group, Inc., the largest shareholder in beer and soft drinks producer SABMiller, on the £79bn offer from rival brewer AB Inbev and Altria’s investment in the enlarged group.

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Contact

See all contacts

Ian Martin

 Partner
+44 (0)20 7849 2223 Email Ian

Related insights

Corporate Law Update

13 April 2018 John Dodsworth, Dominic Sedghi
This week Companies House, the FCA and the PRA each published their business plans for 2018-2019. We look at some of the key points in the plans, proposals by Companies House to secure better compliance with the PSC regime and an FCA paper on transforming culture in financial services.
Read insight

Corporate Law Update

06 April 2018 John Dodsworth, Dominic Sedghi
This week we look at an update from ESMA on including profit forecasts in prospectuses, a case where the court rectified a share sale agreement to extend the warranties to certain properties that had been inadvertently omitted and a case where the court approved a cross-border merger that was still subject to a condition.
Read insight

Corporate Law Update

29 March 2018 John Dodsworth, Dominic Sedghi
This week we look at more detail on the Government’s proposals for a register of beneficial owners of overseas entities (the “OEBO register”), a new Parliamentary inquiry into gender pay gap reporting and executive pay and a case where a director was prosecuted for providing false information to Companies House.
Read insight
See related insights

What people are saying

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"Excellent firm providing commercial, pragmatic advice - sensitive to client needs and bandwidth availability during peak times of a transaction."

IFLR1000 2018

"Leading mid-market practice advising high-profile names on a range of transactions including acquisitions, disposals and joint ventures. Well versed in high-end work, often acting on international mandates for corporates and financial institutions."

Chambers UK 2018

"Clients hail the 'excellent depth of talent and focus on maintaining a strong relationship'."

Chambers UK 2018

"The 'very responsible, pragmatic and extremely creative' team at Macfarlanes LLP handles public and private M&A across a wide range of sectors."

The UK Legal 500 2017

"They have a good level of flexibility and are capable of understanding the business reasons behind our needs. They try to understand the business rationale. They alert us about issues, about balancing risks and opportunities."

Chambers UK 2017

"Highly regarded corporate group representing a string of household names. Adeptly handles both mid-market and high-end deals on behalf of UK and overseas clients."

Chambers Global 2016

Awards