Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)
Our experienced Corporate team has an enviable reputation for delivering excellence in all areas of mergers and acquisitions work, covering both cross-border and domestic markets.
Combining strong technical skills with commercial focus and a detailed understanding of the legal landscape, our lawyers give clients a clear strategy to follow and provide much-needed support during critical periods of negotiation.
When it comes to private M&A deals and public takeovers, we act for a broad range of commercial clients including multinationals, entrepreneurs and owner-managed businesses with particular expertise in the following sectors:
Events and Publications; Healthcare; Education; Real Estate; Technology; Renewable Energy and Natural Resources; and Financial and Professional Services.
We also advise public companies on compliance with relevant listing rules and associated issues – including the Takeover Code.
A key feature of our Corporate team’s approach to M&A is project management support. This is vital at a time when management resources are stretched, enabling clients to remain focused on the issues at hand and continue the day-to-day operation of their businesses.
Our close working relationship with other Wedlake Bell teams – including Competition, Real Estate, Pensions & Employee Benefits, Employment, Corporate Tax, Banking and Financial Services/Regulatory – means we can deliver a full service M&A offering to our clients. Our links with the Private Client team mean we can advise on tax efficient exit structures and wealth management issues that arise post-transaction.
Experience
- We advised a global IT group on the sale of its IT managed services business together with its outsourced office in India. This transaction involved the Wedlake Bell corporate team leading a team of UK and Indian lawyers and tax advisers. Extensive labour law advice was required both in relation to TUPE in the UK and the transfer of the employment contracts of the 90 employees in India.
- We advised managed services provider, Computer Systems Integration Group Limited ("CSI"), on its £10m bolt-on acquisition of APSU Capital Ltd. The acquisition - of the entire issued share capital of Apsu Holdings Limited (and other group companies) – was a bolt-on addition to CSI’s existing business as part of preparations for a further sale within the next year. The value of the acquisition to the buyer largely rests in a number of significant and long-term managed services contracts.
- We acted as English counsel to Baitone Limited on its high-value sale of Best Gaming Technology GmbH ('BGT') to Playtech PLC. Headquartered in Vienna, BGT was founded in 2005 and is the leading provider of sports betting software and solutions for gaming and sports betting operators.
- We advised Reed Exhibitions, the UK’s largest provider of trade and customer exhibitions on the acquisition of the Imbibe exhibition business. The Wedlake Bell corporate team worked closely with the firm’s leading IP and branding team carrying out extensive legal due diligence for the client on the target’s business.
Edward Craft – the most knowledgeable governance professional I’ve come across in my career, whose strong technical competency is expertly conveyed with a suitable degree of pragmatism that is aligned with the business needs.
— Legal 500, 2021
Excellent technical knowledge and client-handling skills.
— Legal 500, 2021
Hugely reliable and knowledgeable. Exceptional understanding of client needs and delivery of results.
— Legal 500, 2021
"They speak in layman's terms and they come back in a timely fashion."
— Chambers UK, 2018
"The work is of an impeccable standard."
— Chambers UK, 2018
"The ‘outstanding’ team at Wedlake Bell LLP is ‘very experienced’ and has ‘great business acumen’"
— Legal 500, 2017
"‘Commercial’ practice head Janice Wall ‘explains things in simple terms, is very responsive and always provides valuable advice’; she advised Reed Exhibitions on its purchase of Imbibe Media, and acted for Residential Land on its establishment of two joint ventures with Ivanhoe Cambridge to invest £180m in prime London real estate."
— Legal 500, 2017
"The ‘very good’ Edward Craft assisted BAITONE with its €138m sale of a 90% stake in Best Gaming Technology to Playtech, advised William Pears Group on its £2m investment in JenningsBet’s holding company Betting Shops Services, and acted for Blue Touch Investments (Malta) on its placement of £28m-worth of shares in Secure Income REIT."
— Legal 500, 2017
"Julian Mathews acted for Computer Systems Integration Group on its £10m purchase of APSU Capital. Richmond Golf Club and Hydrotec are recently won clients."
— Legal 500, 2017