Legal 500 corporate and commercial in review
A STRONG year of deals has bolstered the legal community in the North West, with major MBOs, acquisitions and disposals under its belt.
Addleshaw Goddard, DLA Piper, Eversheds, Pinsent Masons, Brabners and Hill Dickinson dominate the top tier for corporate and commercial in Manchester and Liverpool, with the rest of the region being serviced by a top tier of Aaron & Partners, Myersons, Napthens, Gorvins and SAS Daniels.
Notable deals for Addleshaw Goddard include Peel Group’s sale of a 50% stake in MediaCity to Legal and General, which was led by Michael Birchall.
The transaction, for an undisclosed sum, saw the MediaCity estate valued at more than £500m.
Anchored by BBC North, the University of Salford and ITV, the development comprises a 37-acre freehold site, encompassing studios, office accommodation, incubator space, residential, hotels, retail and leisure facilities. It is also home to over 200 other businesses including dock10, the UK’s largest independent studio and post-production facility, and a number of retail and leisure occupiers.
Addleshaw Goddard’s Roger Hart advised on bathroom supplier Norcros’s £21.9m acquisition of Hampshire-based Croydex Group, in June 2015.
Norcros said the acquisition was an “important next step” in its growth strategy to increase revenue to £420m by 2018.
Meanwhile, Paul Medlicott advised Livingbridge on its investment in Sykes Cottages at a £50m valuation.
In total the Addleshaws corporate team in Manchester advised on more than £5.75bn of M&A, private equity deals, and IPO deals during 2015.
DLA Piper’s biggest deal was (James Kerrigan) Conviviality’s £200m reverse takeover of drinks wholesaler Matthew Clark in October 2015.
On re-admission to the AIM market the enlarged share capital of Conviviality, which owns the Bargain Booze and Wine Rack retail chains, had a market capitalisation of £285m, representing a 22% hike in its share price.
The deal, led by investment banking boutique Zeus Capital, included a £130m equity fundraise and a debt raise of £170m.
The firm’s Manchester corporate team is reporting a record number of deals in 2015 worth £3.09bn.
Eversheds’ team, led by Simon Masters, advised Lookers on its £87.5m acquisition of Benfield Motor group in September 2015.
Newcastle-based Benfield is one of the UK’s largest private motor retailing companies, with 1,600 employees working in 30 dealerships across the North East, Yorkshire, Cumbria and South West Scotland. Its franchises include Audi, VW, VW Commercial Vehicles, Skoda, Ford, Toyota, Lexus, Hyundai, Kia, Renault, Dacia, Nissan and Honda. The company had a turnover of close to £700m, with pre-tax profits of £7m, for the year to the end of December 2014.
Meanwhile, Danny Hall advised Euro Garages on its £1.3bn deal with TDR Capital at the end of last year, as well as advising Zeus and Investec on the Conviviality deal.
TDR Capital, the London-based investment firm which owns rival company European Forecourt Retail Group, took a minority stake in fast-growing Euro Garages, which as well as petrol stations and related shops, operates the Rivington services on the M61.
The investment deal made multi-millionaires of the Issa brothers who started the business in 2001 when they bought a single petrol station near Manchester. The company now has 360 locations and employs about 3,200 staff.
Pinsent Masons’ Gregg Davison led ECI Partners on the sale of Fourth Hospitality Group to Insight Partners.
Helen Ridge, head of the Manchester office of Pinsent masons, said in July: “We have experienced rapid growth in the last 12 months across our teams in the Manchester office and with our new hires and promotions, we are well positioned to support our clients during the uncertain period ahead.”
In Liverpool, Brabners’ head of corporate Mark Rathbone led advice for Paul Feathers on the sale of Liverpool-headquartered Feathers Hotel Group to private investment company Topland in January last year.
The portfolio comprised the Queen Hotel and Westminster Hotel in Chester; Llyndir Hall Hotel & Spa, near to Wrexham; Leyland Hotel in Preston; Fir Grove hotel, Warrington; Willow Bank hotel, Manchester; and the Feathers and Alicia hotels in Liverpool.
Finally, Jonathan Brown and Matt Noon at Hill Dickinson advised Eddie Stobart Logistics on its sale of its auto logistics business.
