Howes Percival’s Leicester office has reported a significant upturn in deal activity in the last six months and maintains there is plenty of appetite to do deals in the region, despite concerns over Brexit and the wider economy.
The firm’s corporate finance team is well into double figures for deals completed in the last six months and has a healthy pipeline for the rest of the year. Deals completed include acquisitions and disposals as well as a number of management buyouts. Notable highlights include acting on the sale of analytics firm, Model Citizens Limited, the sale of specialist water treatment company, Atana Limited and the multi-jurisdictional MBO of Tetenal UK Limited backed by HSBC.
The team has advised on a number of investments, acting for both investee companies and investors, for example; advising Longwall Ventures on a series of venture capital investments, including Joost Engines. The team also advised Ataraxia Broking in Lutterworth on a number of investments and Erskine Murray on the acquisition of Houghton Insurance Bureau.
The increase in activity follows an expansion earlier this year, which resulted in Howes Percival’s corporate team becoming the largest in Leicestershire.
Corporate lawyers, Jahid Ali and Oliver Brookshaw joined the firm together with Banking and Finance specialist, Haydon Simmonds. All three Partners were previously with Spearing Waite LLP in Leicester.
Daniel Banton, Head of Corporate at Howes Percival, commented,
“The corporate finance team have made a great start to 2019. The new team have settled in really well and the results are beginning to come through. We’re now able to offer dedicated banking and finance services to banks, financial institutions, funds and other lenders.
“Some of the success is also down to the team promoting the wider Leicestershire deal making community which includes the Leicestershire Corporate Finance Club, which Howes Percival founded last November. The club is open to anyone working to do deals and transactions in the region and it has grown rapidly. We’ve had over 70 attendees at the last two events, which is fantastic. We set the club up to try and bring everyone closer together and increase the number of Leicestershire corporate deals completed by advisors within the county.”
Jahid Ali, a partner in the corporate team added,
“The market has been very interesting in the last six months. Low interest rates, banks’ appetite to do deals and plenty of VC and private equity money is a perfect backdrop for deal activity. However, with the uncertainty of Brexit hanging over us, with the added concern of a no-deal, there is definitely some nervousness in the deal community. Deals are taking a bit longer and sellers / buyers are mulling over decisions a bit longer. However, there are those that are seeing this as a bit of an opportunity and looking to pick up bargains. We are certainly seeing this in some sectors.”
The most recent edition of The Legal 500 – the authoritative guide to the UK’s leading law firms – placed Howes Percival in its top tier for Corporate and Commercial in the East Midlands, describing it as ‘a top-class regional practice’. For more information on the team click here.
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