Brabners joins forces with corporate finance advisor

LAW firm Brabners Chaffe Street has today announced a joint venture with an independent corporate finance advisor.

The North West practice is teaming up with the Liverpool-based Steve Stuart Partnership to boost its integrated professional advisory service.

Under the agreement, the Steve Stuart Partnership will join forces with Brabners Chaffe Street’s existing Liverpool-based corporate finance team at its Horton House head office.

This will create a nine-strong award-winning team of accountancy professionals within the firm’s corporate law department.

The new venture – established on a 50:50 partnership basis between the two firms – now plans to work alongside Brabners Chaffe Street’s legal team to jointly target locally-based, owner-managed businesses and entrepreneurs with a fully-integrated professional advisory service.

Its expertise spans mergers and acquisitions, fundraisings, turnarounds, grant funding and strategic support. 

TSSP was founded by former Ernst and Young corporate finance partner Steve Stuart in 2002 and since then it has advised on over 50 transactions.

Brabners Chaffe Street is one of the few law firms to have already created a corporate finance offering in-house, which the firm set up eight years ago under director, David Houghton.

The firm says its partnership with TSSP, which will operate under the ‘Brabners Stuart Corporate Finance’ brand, is both a response to the model’s success to date, and the anticipation of increasing demand amongst companies for a combined advisory service.

Mark Brandwood, managing partner of Brabners Chaffe Street, said: “A growing number of SME business owners and entrepreneurs are telling us they want a more integrated and efficient service from their legal and lead advisory teams when it comes to mergers and acquisitions and fundraisings.

“Our partnership with TSSP is both a practical response to the market’s changing needs and an important development in our broader strategy for growth in the corporate arena, at a time when the mergers and acquisitions cycle is entering a period of recovery.”

Denise Walker, partner and head of corporate for Brabners Chaffe Street in Liverpool, said: “The combined experience and track record of Steve and his team will significantly enhance our existing corporate finance offering and provide new and existing clients with a genuinely unique and unified approach.
 
“This is a further demonstration of our commitment to businesses here on Merseyside and the surrounding area and of our innovation in the local professional services market.”

Steve Stuart said: “Ever since we set up The Steve Stuart Partnership, the two firms have always enjoyed a mutual respect and a shared commitment to helping Merseyside’s business community grow.

“The new partnership is a major evolution of that relationship which will create a truly full-service model and provide a fresh approach in the market.

“This is an exciting development for our people and our clients and for the professional services market on Merseyside.”

Brabners Chaffe Street’s corporate legal team emerged as one of the most active in the North West despite the downturn, having advised on a succession of major transactions such as the £73.2m sale of Nationwide Autocentres to Halfords.
 
It has continued to expand through a series of strategic mergers.

In May 2009, the firm completed a merger with Liverpool-based Bremners Solicitors in order to create one of the legal sector’s largest and most experienced specialist social housing teams.

This was followed this February by a merger with private client specialist David Bishop and Co.

Brabners Chaffe Street currently employs 380 people and specialises in corporate, commercial, employment, litigation, property and sports law as well as private client work.