Law firm doubles up on value of deals completed in first half

Ian Riggs

North West law firm Hill Dickinson’s international corporate and banking team has reported a strong performance for the first half of 2021, having advised on 78 completed deals with an aggregate value of more than £2bn.

The performance represents a very significant increase on the equivalent period in 2020.

Although the number of deals was broadly the same as in 2020 – 78 completed deals in 2021 versus 80 in 2020 – the aggregate value of the deals has almost doubled, from £1.1bn to £2bn.

Notable highlights include:

  • Advising on a large number of M&A transactions, including several significant deals such as advising ADES International Holding on its $516m recommended cash takeover, EMMAC Life Sciences on its $345m sale, Minds + Machines on the conditional sale of the majority of its assets for up to $120m and Ultimate Products on its £34m takeover of Salter.
  • Advising on a number of IPOs and secondary fundraisings and continuing to have one of the leading AIM practices in the UK. The firm has maintained its top-five ranking for the number of retained AIM clients it advises (34) in the latest AIM Advisers Rankings Guide.
  • Continuing to advise the firm’s institutional investor and management team clients on a number of high profile mid market PE investment deals and buy-and-build programmes and exits.
  • Continued expansion to meet client demand, including the launch of a corporate offering in the firm’s Leeds office. Recent hires have boosted the corporate and banking team to more than 75 specialist lawyers across the firm’s UK and international offices.

Ian Riggs, Hill Dickinson’s national head of corporate, said: “I am delighted once again to be able to report an excellent performance by our national corporate team in the first half of 2021. The period saw very significant levels of activity, which was a continuation of the strong recovery in deal volumes that we saw in the second half of 2020.

“The UK markets have remained resilient and we have been exceptionally busy during the most recent lockdown advising on transactions spanning a range of sectors and markets.”

He added: “Conducting this number of deals remotely, and often at high speed, has been challenging, but our people have demonstrated huge commitment to ensure that we continue to support our clients and deliver bespoke commercial solutions in these difficult times.”

Hill Dickinson has corporate teams based in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, London and Hong Kong.

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