Expertise

Edward leads on the most complex and innovative transactions delivered at Wedlake Bell and provides technical leadership to both the team and the profession.

Edward steps down as chair of the Company Law Committee of The Law Society after a three year term in September 2022. In that role, Edward has most recently been responsible for the vital guidance to solicitors in conducting verification under the new register of overseas entities. The 2021 practice note and Q&A on electronic signatures in the context of COVID has proven a very valuable resource to practitioners.

Edward has a long-established practice focussed on governance and transparency and is currently building on his PSC experience in supporting clients in managing the new ROE provisions.

Edward has twice been the author of the Corporate Governance Code issued by The Quoted Companies Alliance, which is used by the vast majority of companies on AIM.

Chambers & Partners said that Edward is “always thinking outside the box to come up with very clever and unusual ideas.”

Recent Experience

• Successful fundraising for AIM-admitted oil exploration company operating on the South Atlantic;
• £350m sale of seven companies for a trust involving a complex reorganisation and a total of 23 capital reductions, involving well over 500 documents;
• Sale of holding company in consideration for a £4.25b loan note;
• English advice on the structuring and joint venture establishment of a Luxembourg special limited partnership;
• Advising on its purchase of the BVI parent company of a group holding a number of exploration rights in Africa (a transaction involving seven jurisdictions);
• Sale of a portfolio of African embedded generation and low-carbon energy assets;
• Asset management arrangements for a number of clients including a major UK shopping centre group and various onshore/offshore management structures;
• Over £500m of debt listings in the last 12 months;
• The establishment of various fintech/crypto investment structures and joint ventures; and
• Private wealth management through corporate structures.

Career History

Edward joined Wedlake Bell as a partner in 2010. Before that, he spent twelve years at Nabarro (now CMS), where he qualified as a solicitor in 2000.

Edward studied law at the University of Nottingham (graduating in 1997) and obtained his post-graduate qualification at Nottingham Law School.

Publications

Edward is a regular author of consultation response and thought leadership pieces.

Edward’s officially published work includes:

• QCA Corporate Governance Code, 2018 and 2013
• QCA Remuneration Committee Guide for Small and Mid-Size Quoted Companies, 2016
• Delivering Proportionate and Effective Corporate Governance in Small and Medium-Size Quoted Companies (chapter in A Practical Guide to Corporate Governance), 2014
• Local Authority Joint Ventures (chapter in Local Authority Companies and Partnerships)
• Practical Law Practice note on Local Authority Joint Ventures