Mergers & Acquisitions

We make the right deals happen



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+44 (0)3330 143 401 [email protected]

Our Mergers & Acquisitions team help businesses become greater than the sum of their parts.

Summary

All businesses have many components. Good businesses have the right parts in the right places — but the most successful businesses are those where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. From the smallest owner-managed businesses through to the largest publicly-traded corporates, partnerships and entrepreneurs, gunnercooke lawyers have advised hundreds of businesses and their owners on business mergers, acquisitions and disposals.

Whether you are seeking to add a complementary business to an existing one, whether you are looking to achieve scale or to diversify, or to remove a non-core business unit to achieve greater focus, gunnercooke lawyers have experience in helping our clients achieve those goals.

To provide the best service, our lawyers are there with you as you move from initial discussion, through due diligence and document negotiation, to execution and integration. By spending the time and effort to understand your needs, hopes and fears — and utilising that knowledge — we add value which will continue to benefit you long after the ink on the contract has dried.

All good M&A lawyers know what their clients’ priorities are. Only a few understand how to devote time and resources to how the client wants their deal to be done, rather than how they think the deal should be done. Whether the transaction involves the acquisition of individual business assets or the acquisition of a public company group by way of a takeover, we tailor our approach, take the time to understand your objectives and advise on delivering the deal you want.

Our work in Mergers & Acquisitions includes:

  • Advising the founders of Stagedoor App UK on the sale of the business to a leading theatre ticketing app company, Trafalgar Entertainment.
  • Providing ongoing M&A advice to IT systems business, InTEC Business Technology Limited, including five sales to date
  • Advising Dansk Supermarket Group in respect of the sale of the Netto UK discount grocery chain to Wal-Mart for £778 million
  • Advising Northern Foods plc on the disposal of its speciality breads, cakes, chilled pastry and flour milling businesses to a French private equity house for £160 million
  • Advising a major European retail and investment bank on disposals and restructurings of its private equity investments in various UK retailers and manufacturing companies and disposals of its holdings in private equity funds
  • Advising a consortium of Kuwaiti investors on their equity and subordinated debt investment in a holding company formed to acquire a portfolio of student accommodation assets from administrators and funded using a c. £200 million bond listed on the Dublin Stock Exchange
  • Advising Euro Media Group on the acquisition of Telegenic, a major player in the UK and European Outside Broadcasting Market
  • Advised on an acquisition for Yondr Group Limited of a property holding company with development potential, with a £300m GDV, with an option to purchase a further 50%: a significant matter achieving a sound commercial deal with suitable future-proofing — to protect the further investment option — involving detailed investigation and due diligence with cross-border elements (BVI) and tax issues.
  • Advised in establishing and dealing with various transactions on behalf of SFO Capital Limited, a Lebanese bank’s UK investment arm.
  • Advised an English start up production company on investment from a leading French TV / film producer and distributor, which was their first investment in the UK. Involving cross-border elements and considerations related to the status of the clients as individuals, such as terms of service and exit from their existing employers.
  • Sale of a market-leading diversity and inclusion consultancy to a private equity-backed group.
  • Provide ongoing advice to a well known legal bookseller to give corporate, finance and transaction advice.
  • Advised Bob & Lush and its shareholders on the sale of the premium dog food brand to PAWS Holdings Limited: a transaction which was a partial exit for the company’s founders and was complicated by having multiple individual sellers in different jurisdictions and complex purchase price adjustment mechanics, and was completed in an extremely challenging time-frame.
  • Acted for Graylaw International Ltd on a leading corporate transaction to purchase the entire Issued Share Capital of Mezeron Ltd and Isle of Man: an interesting cross-border matter worth over £1m.
  • Advised UK internet service provider Telcom Group on a major £63m investment on all facets of the agreement, with Operating Partner Chris Baldock being appointed Telcom Group’s Chairman.

Who have our partners worked with?

  • Cambridge Nanosystems Limited
  • DCC Group plc
  • ECI Partners
  • Northern Foods plc
  • MIDROC Pharmaceuticals
  • Hargreaves plc
  • Dunedin Capital Partners
  • 3i Group plc
  • MMC Ventures.
  • Harwoods Limited
  • Endless LLP

Client testimonials

We really appreciated Mark’s [Whittaker] professionalism and efficiency in dealing with our transaction. His expertise and responsiveness were second to none and we knew we were in a safe pair of hands. I would like to commend Mark and the rest of his team for an excellent job.

Nick [Gould] has been our legal advisor on most of our corporate and commercial law matters for many years now. He normally finds common sense and practical solutions to the numerous matters we throw at him.

— Barry Johnstone, Managing Director, CTV Outside Broadcasts Limited

Not only is Carol [Copland] an excellent all-round lawyer, but she also provides very strong and pragmatic business, strategic and management advice to her clients.

— John Lazar CBE FREng, former CEO and Chairman, Metaswitch Networks

We were introduced to Amanda [Allen] by a firm of accountants to help us on an acquisition and refinancing. She proved to be a proactive business adviser supporting and guiding us through the complexities of what was a significant transaction for the company.

— Heather Penn, Founder and Director, SSE Audio Group Limited

Key Contacts

Alex Connah

Senior Associate

Corporate & Commercial

Bill Fowler

Partner

Corporate & Commercial Law

Sameer Huda

Partner

Corporate & Private Equity

Sima Kanan

Partner

Funds/Asset Management

Felix Korten

Partner

Corporate, M&A & Restructuring

Antje Krause

Partner

Tax, Corporate & Commercial law

Chris McFadzean

Partner

Capital Markets & Structured Finance

Simon Williams

Partner

Corporate & Commercial

Noreen R. Weiss

Chair-US, Managing Partner, New York

Corporate

Matthias Döring

Partner

Commercial & Corporate Law

News and Insights from our Partners


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