Deals record for DLA
CORPORATE lawyers in the Leeds and Sheffield offices of DLA Piper are celebrating a record-breaking year having completed over 130 deals worth more than £9.4bn.
Over the last 12 months, the nine-partner, 30-strong team led by Jonathan Procter has spearheaded an enviable mix of the biggest buyouts and merger and acquisition (M&A) deals seen in Yorkshire.
Their roster of deals features many complex and significant national and international transactions alongside a raft of smaller and mid-market local deals.
Richard May, who leads the Sheffield team, said: “The overall value of buyout deals completed in Yorkshire last year broke all previous records, reaching £3.72bn, with the vast majority of those transactions coming through DLA Piper.”
The major buy-out activity included the £783m management buyout of Doncaster-based construction group Keepmoat and the £945m buyout of Sheffield-based Firth Rixson, the largest such deal ever seen in Yorkshire.
On the M&A front, the team led two of the regions largest ever deals: the sale by Bradford & Bingley of its commercial and social housing lending portfolios for more than £4bn.
Both Bradford & Bingley deals were led by head of the Yorkshire team, Jonathan Procter, who commented “We were delighted to be chosen to act on such strategically important deals for Bradford & Bingley and to demonstrate that we have the skills and resources to manage such significant deals out of Yorkshire. To sign both deals up on the same night, made for an exciting final 24 hours!” he added.
Lawyers from DLA Piper's Yorkshire team also led one of the largest ever stock market flotations ever done by DLA Piper in Europe with the £453m listing of eaga plc, and worked on the £84m takeover of one of Yorkshire's longest established house builders Ben Bailey by Gladedale Holdings.
“2007 was possibly a high water mark for so many very large deals – who knows – but nevertheless, this is a remarkable testament to the calibre of the corporate team here in Yorkshire. Very few teams outside London could handle the scale and complexity of such deals,” said Mr May.
