Record year for Denison Till
DEALS valued at £120m were completed by the corporate department of commercial lawyers Denison Till during the last 12 months.
A series of sales and mergers were carried out by the Yorkshire-based practice, which operates throughout the region, resulting in 2008 being a record year for the department.
Among deals completed by the York-based firm’s corporate department were the sale of Scunthorpe steel industry specialist support business Hanson Resource Management to US-based Tube City; the sale of an Edinburgh and Scarborough-based leisure business for £3.7m; the merger of York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and Leeds Chamber; and the sale of York Brewery to Lancashire-based Mitchells Brewery.
Andrew Lindsay, corporate department partner at Denison Till, said: “2008 remained very busy for us in spite of the downturn in the economy during the last six months.
“Businesses across the region are coming to realise that it is not necessary to engage the largest, and most expensive, law firms they can find when specialist practices, such as Denison Till, deliver the same, or higher, standards of work more competitively.
“Economic downturns always prompt a flight to quality and value and this is benefiting our business in the tougher climate because we have lower overheads and are able to pass this onto clients.”
The firm’s corporate team also handled several substantial re-banking transactions and restructurings for clients wishing to tie up new credit lines for the coming year as well as a growing number of e-commerce and intellectual property instructions.
Denison Till managing partner, Alistair Duncan, added: “While the economic outlook is bleaker than 12 months ago, Yorkshire and Humber has many experienced, strong and innovative businesses which will be able to weather the downturn.
“We believe that, from now on, more instructions will be placed with smaller firms which can demonstrate a greater emphasis on quality, expertise, value and access to senior staff. We are ready for the challenge.”
