Browne Jacobson’s dealmakers celebrate latest Experian rankings after completing jam-packed year of deals worth over £2bn

Browne Jacobson’s award-winning corporate finance team has cemented its status as one of the country’s leading corporate finance teams after being named in the UK’s top 20 legal adviser rankings and the Midlands top 10 legal advisers for the Midlands region for M&A activity deal volume in the latest Experian annual United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland M&A Review.

In addition to these rankings, the practice has also successfully completed a spate of key transactions since the beginning of 2022 which includes advising the Management Sellers on the buyout of CARE Fertility from Silverfleet Capital to Nordic Capital whilst simultaneously advising CARE Fertility on its acquisition of Leeds Fertility. The team also recently advised the shareholders of Medline Scientific on its sale to a global life science provider and supported Laka on a significant series A round investment.

Over the last 12 months, the firm’s 30-strong national corporate dealmakers have advised on more than 120 high profile flagship UK and international transactions that have a combined value, in excess of £2billion and cut across various sector specialisms for the firm, including tech, gaming / e-commerce, digital media & advertising, healthcare and manufacturing. Some of the highlight deals for 2021 include advising:

• the Sellers (including LDC) on the sale of leading UK-based SAP specialist services provider, Centiq to global provider of end-to-end software and cloud technology solutions, SoftwareONE, based in Switzerland;
• the shareholders of Focus Multimedia Limited (trading as Fanatical), a games-focused e-commerce platform on the sale of the business to US based and NASDAQ listed Fandom Inc (backed by US private equity firm, TPG);
• specialist healthcare services private equity investor, Weight Partners Capital on its investment into Grosvenor Health and Social Care;
• Apiary Capital on its buyout of global media adviser, Media Sense Communications based in the UK, India and the US;
• BGF on its investment into UK Flooring Direct. This deal was shortlisted as Deal of the Year (under £10m) at Insider East Midlands Dealmakers Awards 2021.

The team also won a host of industry awards throughout 2021 including, the coveted ‘Corporate Law Firm of the Year’ award at the Midlands Dealmakers Awards and ‘Regional Legal Adviser of the Year’ at the European Private Equity Awards. Corporate lawyer and dealmaker Sam Sharp was also named ‘Solicitor of the Year’ at last year’s annual Nottinghamshire Law Society Awards.

Richard Cox, partner and head of corporate finance at Browne Jacobson, said:

“It was an incredibly busy and rewarding year for our practice, with the market remaining competitive, throughout 2021 and into 2022. We are delighted to have already supported some fantastic deals in 2022 and to have maintained our top 20 and top 10 deal-making rankings in the latest Experian report.

“We continue to demonstrate our strength in depth and versatility, having worked on a great mix of deals across all sectors including retail and manufacturing and we have seen growth in the business to business service sectors as well as digital software and tech, a trend we would expect to continue for the rest of this year.

“As a team, we have adapted effectively and quickly to the buoyant UK and overseas M&A deal market in the last year and are continuing to prepare for further growth by recruiting at every level and across all service and sector lines. We will also continue to develop our knowhow and expertise so we can keep on top of the latest developments and continue to give our diverse client base relevant, high quality and tailored business advice.

“The ongoing deals pipeline remains very healthy, so we are expecting the next 6 months to keep us very busy.”

Browne Jacobson’s national corporate finance practice operates from four of the firm’s five office network including Birmingham, London, Manchester and Nottingham. It is supported by over 50 corporate and banking & finance expert lawyers delivering complex layered corporate, tax and banking transactions. The team advises domestic and international companies from fast growing start-ups to blue chip corporations on all stages of the business life cycle from capital and finance raising, through to mergers and acquisitions, and ultimately to succession or exit planning with particular expertise in the private equity market.