Firm completes £2bn M& A and PE transactions this year
A corporate team has advised on M&A and PE transactions in excess of £2bn throughout this year.
Addleshaw Goddard’s Leeds office said this figure included advising on the sale of 3i and LDC’s stakes in MKM building supplies, to Bain Capital. They said: “The hugely complex deal involved the simultaneous sale of equity interests held by branch directors at each of MKM’s trading subsidiary companies.”
The firm’s real estate team in Leeds advised National Grid on the sale of its UK Gas Distribution Business, which included the transfer of over 10,000+ properties, hive-out and separation of regulated and non-regulated assets.
The project, which integrated technology, flexible resource and legal project management, saw the team work with National Grid to create a multi-functional, bespoke, on-line platform, which allowed more than 200 users from four panel law firms, National Grid, surveyors, valuers and others, to input data via a workflow system – saving the client £1m in legal fees.
Addleshaw Goddard also advised SSE Energy Supply Limited on the contractual framework governing the next tranche of its smart meter rollout programme, which aims to offer a smart meter to 53 million homes and businesses across GB by the end of 2020. And the firm’s banking team advised HSBC on its £100m revolving credit facility with Supermarket Income REIT Plc, supporting the group’s acquisition plans.
The firm promoted 18 of its lawyers across the office this year, making five to legal director and a further 13 to managing associate, and also retained 81% of its trainees across the firm.
Head of the Firm’s Leeds office, Simon Kamstra, said: “Our teams in Leeds have shone over the past year. Our reputation for providing a first-class service to our blue-chip client base means we consistently dominate the local market, and our continued growth means we are the leading firm in Leeds, as it vies for its position as the largest city in the UK for Legal Services outside of London.”
