Venture Capital

• 9 October 2024

For founders and entrepreneurs, landing their first investment and backers is a significant milestone. We work with companies from their earliest stage, advising on appropriate share structures for founders and then guiding them through the myriad of potential investment reliefs and options (literally, in the case of awards to employees!), to ensure that the value they create in their business is not damaged by a lack of early planning.

We act on both sides of venture capital – from advising companies and founders on investment by venture capital investors to acting for high net worth individuals on their investments into fast growth companies. Following initial investment, we support founders through follow-on rounds and on to exit and, with the advice and support of our leading Private Wealth team, are also able to advise founders on asset protection post-exit.

Joint ventures and partnerships

• 9 October 2024

Joint ventures enable parties to maximise the potential value of an asset, idea or business by bringing together different expertise and skills, while also allowing for diversification and the sharing of risk.

We have years of experience in advising on multiparty relationships and agreements, using a variety of corporate structures, including companies, limited liability partnerships and limited partnerships, often involving parties in multiple jurisdictions.

We are able to support clients during the lifetime of these arrangements. This can include structuring, tax, partnership and membership agreements, sales and acquisitions, negotiating exits from joint venture arrangements, dealing with non-performance by a partner, or assisting generally with disputes. We are also used to working with overseas advisors to implement offshore structures for investment or other purposes and have excellent relationships with those advisors.

Our team provides clients with legal, commercial and strategic advice to ensure that their interests are protected when entering into such arrangements. We are well-versed in the issues that can arise in these areas, whether acting for a majority shareholder or minority investor.

M&A

• 9 October 2024

Navigating corporate transactions requires skill, experience, and a deep understanding of client needs. Our Corporate team combines these elements to deliver practical and commercial legal advice through a partner-led approach.

We advise on all aspects of share sales and asset sales, acting on transactions of any size, including the sale of minority interests. We can expertly handle the legal due diligence exercise, efficiently negotiate transaction documents, and will project manage the transaction to a successful completion in line with your objectives. We also regularly make introductions to, and work with, our extensive network of accountants, property agents, and insurance brokers to facilitate all aspects of a deal. In addition, our excellent relationships with a range of overseas advisors means that we can comfortably handle multi-jurisdictional matters as well as domestic transactions.

Whether our clients are looking to acquire a business or are disposing of a heritage-brand or start-up business, we guide them through every stage of the transaction. Ensuring that we understand every aspect of the deal, we provide no-nonsense advice and guidance.

Reorganisation and restructuring

• 9 October 2024

We have extensive experience in advising on the restructuring of private businesses, including owner-managed and family businesses.

We regularly act on corporate group reorganisations which are, for example, required as a result of expansion, to rationalise divisions, as a pre-cursor to the divestiture of non-core assets, or following a dispute. Utilising our excellent relationships with overseas advisors, we are able to assist with redomiciliations and the creation of new corporate structures involving both domestic and international entities.

Increasingly, we also act on the separation of businesses and assets to provide for efficient tax planning for succession, including section 110 reorganisations under the Insolvency Act 1986.

We appreciate that our clients ultimately want a solution which is efficient, simple, and realistic for them to maintain following completion. Our advice has regard to not only legal effectiveness, but considerations such as cost, manageability, and also saleability, to ensure that they are as future-proof as possible.