Just as the industry thought the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic was over, Russia goes and invades Ukraine and we’re plunged into another period of instability.
Having said that, it seems as though Scotland’s deal-making community has learnt how to live with volatile markets, with acquisitions continuing through lockdown periods and rebounding as hands could actually shake on transactions again.
A near record number of deals have been done in the last 12 months, reflected in a significant increase in entries for this year’s coveted Deals and Dealmakers Awards; with the highest number the judging panel has seen in the past five years.
Sectors like healthcare, technology and life sciences experienced a particular surge in activity recently, while outside these booming industries, there were still a diverse range of companies doing business: from disposable packaging producers to timber merchants, corner shop delivery platforms to submarine rental suppliers.
Rising inflation and energy costs, coupled with skills and supply chain shortages have meant some deals have involved buying firms out of administration, or negotiating with distressed pricing, but advisers, accountants and bankers have often been able to save sites, brands and jobs by doing what they do best.
Meanwhile, for those companies and sectors experiencing growth, there’s also a strong support system to help management teams continue to expand via acquisition.
There is both healthy competition and collegiate collaboration between the major Scottish players to help get deals done. While some of the biggest have meant ownership transfers out of the country, other significant funding rounds and scale-up mergers have aligned with the government’s recently- stated ambitions around home-grown entrepreneurship.
There is perhaps a way to go until we crown the next Scottish unicorn, but the trajectories of some businesses mentioned within these pages suggest there’s a lot of latent potential around at the moment.
So here's our guide to the range of Scottish firms helping take transactions from start to completion:
Anderson Strathern
Services provided: Agriculture and rural law, commercial law and litigation, commercial property, corporate law, employment, family law, health and safety, corporate crime, medical negligence, personal injury, tax, trusts, wills and succession planning.
Total number of staff: Around 300.
Major deals completed April 2021 - March 2022:
- Sole advisers to longstanding client Crown Estate Scotland, in relation to the major offshore wind project. The team negotiated and concluded various agreements with seventeen parties resulting in £700m being paid to public finances and many billions of pounds worth of supply chain commitments being made.
- Valaris is an offshore drilling service provider operating in six continents, for which the firm acted as Scots Law advisers to in its financial restructuring and issuance of $550m of new secured notes. This deal was valued at $7.1bn.
- Acted on behalf of Foresight Group’s Scottish Growth Fund in several equity investments as part of management buy-in and general investment requirements. Complex investment, share purchase, service and security documents were concluded for these substantial transactions to facilitate the development of businesses.
- Acted for Eco Projects IOM to establish a joint venture with Qair, a French based renewable energy group, to jointly develop, build, operate and own a portfolio of onshore wind and solar assets in Scotland. The team negotiated/drafted the necessary formal agreements between the partners and all interested parties.
Major clients: Crown Estate Scotland, Foresight Group, The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, Locogen Developments, Shard Credit Partners, Circular 1 Health, Tricapital Investment Syndicate, Kelvin Capital, Elgin Energy, Livos Renewables, 2e-Volve UK, Scottish Midland Cooperative Society.
Azets
Services provided: Mergers and acquisitions, disposals and succession planning, fundraising and strategic planning, due diligence and transactional support, financial modelling and business development.
Total number of staff: More than 510 staff and 49 partners in Scotland.
Major deals completed April 2021 - March 2022:
- Advised the shareholders of Protech on the disposal to Flogas, backed by DCC Group.
- Advised Crieff Hydro on its acquisition of Highland Adventure Safaris.
- Acted for Gateley Holdings on its acquisition of Smithers Purslow Group.
- Acted for M&D Green on various pharmacy acquisitions.
- Advised Warmworks Scotland on its acquisition of Connected Response.
Major clients: CJ Lang, West Brewery, Innis & Gunn, J R Dalziel, Linn Products, Morris & Spottiswood, Scott Group, The Scottish Salmon Company, CSN Care Group and Enva.
Corporate statement: Azets is the largest regional accountancy and business advisory firm to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK, supporting clients with strategic advice and a straightforward, personal approach. Success lies in an ability to work collaboratively, problem solve quickly and build long-lasting working relationships with clients. Azets is one of the most active providers of transaction support services and fundraising, buy-side and sell-side advisory services for SMEs in the UK.
BDO
Services provided: Mergers and acquisitions, disposals, private equity, due diligence, debt advisory and capital markets.
Total number of staff: 275 full time corporate finance professionals across the UK.
Major deals completed April 2021 – March 2022:
- Advised the shareholders of Tissue Solutions on the sale of the business to Arsenal Capital-backed BioIVT.
- Advised Incremental Group, backed by Dunedin, on the acquisition of Adatis Group.
- Advised the shareholders on the sale of Incremental Group to Telefonica Tech for up to £175m.
- Advised VetPartners, backed by BC Partners, on its acquisition of Pet Cremation Services, VetUK and Rossdales.
- Reporting accountant on the £78m AIM IPO of The Artisanal Spirits Company.
- Advised Montreux Capital Management and Huntercombe Group on the acquisition of Pathways North West and vendor due diligence on the subsequent merger of Huntercombe Group with Active Care Group.
- Vendor due diligence on the £222m sale of Hawthorn Leisure to Admiral Taverns, backed by Proprium Capital Partners.
- Advised Denholm Logistics Group on the acquisition of William Reid.
- Reporting accountant on the £88m AIM IPO of Eneraqua Technologies.
Major clients: Work with entrepreneurs, private companies, private equity, financial institutions and listed PLCs. Corporate clients are from a range of sectors, including support services, energy, tech and media, property, healthcare, manufacturing, life sciences, retail and consumer goods.
Corporate statement: BDO is a member firm of the BDO International Network, the world’s fifth largest accountancy organisation. Its UK corporate finance team completed 435 deals in 2021 with a total deal value of £46bn, placing it as the most active advisor in the UK. In Scotland, the team completed 30 deals in 2021 with a total deal value of more than £1bn, with 65% of these transactions involving private equity.
Brodies
Services provided: Mergers, acquisitions and private equity, venture capital, investment funds and financial services, joint ventures, tax, restructurings, commercial contracts, technology and data, corporate law and governance, infrastructure, energy, employment and immigration, employee benefits and pensions.
Total number of staff: Brodies is Scotland’s largest law firm with more than 780 colleagues, including 116 partners. There are 133 legal colleagues in the corporate and commercial practice, including 44 partners/directors.
Major deals completed April 2021 – March 2022:
- Borderlink Broadband's multi-million pound investment from funds controlled by Gresham House.
- Whisky Hammer's sale of a minority stake to Hong-Kong-based Rare Whisky Holdings.
- US private equity fund Accel-KKR's merger of Kimble Applications and Mavenlink.
- Frostkrone Food Group and EMERAM Capital Partners' purchase of Abergavenny Fine Foods.
- Refinancing, new joint-venture partners and migration of Maxwell Oil Tools' subsidiaries operations overseas.
- Advising Mirador Analytics on its sale to a Datavant group company.
- Series A funding round support for Leucid Bio.
- Advising on more than 100 investments for Scottish Enterprise alongside local, national and international investors, from seed through to Series A and beyond.
Major clients: Abellio Group, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Aggreko, Arjun Infrastructure Partners, Azinor Catalyst, Balfour Beatty, Banks Renewables, Chivas Brothers, City Facilities Management, Danfoss, DC Thomson, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, EpiServer, Equitix, Frostkrone Food Group, Galliford Try Investments, Glenturret Distillery, James Jones & Sons, Lalique Group, Loch Lomond Distillers, Maven Capital Partners, Metal NRG, Moorfield Group, Orbital Marine Power, Promethean Investments, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Equity Partners, Spirit Energy, Tennent Caledonian Breweries.
Burness Paull
Services provided: Mergers and acquisitions, private equity, venture capital, joint ventures, capital markets and corporate restructuring projects, as well as undertaking general corporate advisory work across a broad range of sectors.
Total number of staff: 86 partners and more than 600 people.
Major deals completed April 2021 – March 2022:
- Advising on the sale of Incremental Group to Telefonica Tech for £175m.
- Advising Savannah Energy on a $65m equity fundraising and $700m reverse takeover acquisition of ExxonMobil and Petronas’ oil business in Chad and Cameroon.
- Advising the Access Group on a number of acquisitions, including Soundbitelearning UK, Omnifi and ISYS Interactive Systems.
- Working with Forev on a £2m equity investment by the Scottish National Investment Bank
- Advising on the sale of Vegware to US acquirer Novolex, backed by Carlyle.
- Working with James Fisher and Sons on the sale of James Fisher Testing Services to Phenna Group.
Major clients: Abrdn, Phoenix Group, Weir Group, Scottish Power, Royal London Group, Hg, Maven Capital, Kester Capital, Business Growth Fund, BlueGem Capital, Kings Park Capital, Lonsdale Capital Partners, James Fisher and Sons, LendingCrowd, Walker Precision Engineering Group, STV, EDF Energy Renewables, BayWar.e. UK, Savannah Energy, i3 Energy, National Oilwell Varco, Kellas Midstream, Brookfield Renewables, Brockwell Energy, Zhouli Imaging Technology, Archangels, Par Equity, Scottish Enterprise, Incremental Group, Tillicoultry Quarries, Calnex Solutions and Access Group.
Corporate statement: Burness Paull is an independent, full-service corporate and commercial law firm, which has represented some of the most innovative companies in the UK and beyond, project managing transactions across more than 60 countries.
Consilium
Services provided: A range of corporate finance services to the SME sector, including mergers, acquisitions, disposals, employee ownership, refinancing, business planning, financial projections and grants advisory services. Financial due diligence services are provided on behalf of corporates, banks and private equity firms.
Total number of staff: 50 staff.
Major deals completed April 2021 – March 2022:
- Financial due diligence engagements for Foresight on its investments in Callen-Lenz and Crosstown.
- A management buyout of Eastern Exhibition and Display.
- The disposal of JBT Distribution to Menzies Distribution.
- Due diligence engagements for Maven on its investments in Liftango.
- Due diligence engagement for ABGI-UK on its acquisition of IF R&D Tax Credits.
- An employee buyout of Dazzle & Inkspot.
- A management buyout of Hardie Polymers, backed by Nevis Capital.
- A disposal of Ping Network Solutions to Sword Charteris.
- A management buyout of 3DReid Architects.
- Due diligence engagement for Target Healthcare on its acquisition of Quantum Pharmaceutical from Clinigen.
Major clients: Primarily SME owner-managed business and the owners themselves, across industry sectors including manufacturing, distribution, construction, hospitality and leisure, retail, technology, professional services and oil and gas.
Corporate statement: Consilium is an independent Scottish accounting firm focusing on understanding clients’ needs and providing quality compliance and advisory services to owners and their businesses.
Dentons
Services provided: In the UK, Dentons is well known for its work in energy, construction and engineering, banking, financial services, restructuring and insolvency.
Total number of staff: In the UK and Middle East region, more than 1,500 staff, including 184 partners, 51 counsel and 389 associates.
Major deals completed April 2021 – March 2022:
- Advising Thunderball Investments on its $39m recommended takeover of Lamprell and associated $145m bridge finance facility.
- Advising RoslinCT on its sale to GHO Capital Partners.
- Advising Zhejiang Orient Gene and its subsidiary Accubio on their acquisitions of lateral flow test and CD4 test manufacturing divisions from Omega Diagnostics Group.
- Advising the founders of Axle Group Holdings, which owns National Tyres and Autocare, on the sale to Halfords Group for circa £62m.
- Advising Scottish Equity Partners on its growth equity investment into Tyk Technologies.
- Advising the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office on its MOBILIST programme, which facilitates the creation of products that can be listed on stock exchanges in order to catalyse private sector investment into developing countries at scale.
- Advised Scottish National Investment Bank on providing £20m of cornerstone funding to Lothian Broadband Group.
Major clients: Abrdn, Accubio, Administrate, Aliter Capital, Allenby Capital, Ascensos, ATAI Life Sciences, Aviva, Asset Alliance Group, Baillie Gifford, Baxters Food Group, Bee Inspired Clothing, BP, Brewgooder, British Polythene Industries, Browns Food Group, BGF, Circularity Scotland, Dalmore, Dunnet Bay Distillers, Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Edrington, Edwin James Group, Emtelle, First Milk, FreeAgent, George Kaiser Family Foundation, Holyrood Distillers, Indigo Pipelines, Isle of Harris Distillers, John Menzies, Inver House Distillers, Jones Healthcare Group, Land Securities, Lloyds Banking Group, Lindores Distillery, M&G, MB Aerospace, Muirden Energy, Nelipak Healthcare, Nc'nean Distillery, NatWest, Nairn’s Oatcakes, Omnilife, Optos Prudential Assurance, Quiz Clothing, Revie Investments, Scottish Equity Partners, Scottish National Investment Bank, Scottish Widows, Sigma Sports, Singer Capital Markets, Souter Investments, Stagecoach, Superglass, The Restaurant Group, Thesis Asset Management and Virgin Group.
Dow Schofield Watts
Services provided: Private equity, disposals, mergers and acquisitions, due diligence and debt advisory.
Total number of staff: 95.
Major deals completed April 2021 – March 2022:
- Advisor to PHD Industrial Holdings on the acquisition of Bil Castors.
- Advisor to Scottish National Investment Bank of the investment into PureLiFi.
- Advisor to Dr. Schär on the acquisition of GDR Food Technology.
- Advisor to Thincats regarding funding the acquisition of Ace Winches.
- Advisor to Homeserve on a number of bolt-on acquisitions.
- Advisor to Lucion Group on the acquisition of Aberdeen Radiation Protection Services.
Major clients: DSW Scotland works with the Scottish private equity community and a range of local companies, from start-ups and owner-managed, to large multi-national corporations.
Corporate statement: DSW Scotland is the Scottish arm of the UK-wide independent financial advisory firm. Completing 65 deals in 2021 with a deal value in excess of £1.9bn, the team worked with a number of high-growth businesses in Scotland and the UK.
EQ
Services provided: Transaction, financing, restructuring and tax support, covering all sectors.
Total number of staff: 116, including 17 partners.
Major clients: EQ Chartered Accountants offers financial support services, as well as business advisory services to clients from a range of industries, predominantly owner-managed businesses. Client industry types include agriculture, healthcare, leisure, property and construction, engineering and manufacturing, technology, professional services and charities.
EY
Services provided: Mergers and acquisitions, financial and operational due diligence, capital markets, project finance, financial modelling and valuations, finance raising, corporate restructuring, exit readiness, equity and debt advisory, commercial due diligence and public sector advisory.
Total number of staff: 1,250 in Scotland, including partners.
Major deals completed April 2021 - March 2022:
- Lead advisor on the sale of Vegware to Novolex.
- Lead advisor on the sale of Tulloch Homes to Springfield Properties for a net consideration of £56.4m.
- Diligence advisor to Craneware on its acquisition of Sentry Data Systems for $400m.
- Financial and tax due diligence to Cairngorm Capital on its investment in Verso Wealth Management and multiple follow on investments.
Major clients: Forth Ports, Lloyds Banking Group, Scottish Government, Craneware, SEP, Cairngorm Capital, Tulloch Homes, Turner Group, Vegware, ICS Learn, Walker Timber and ETB Technologies.
Corporate statement: EY is committed to building a better working world - with increased trust and confidence in business, sustainable growth, development of talent and greater collaboration. With an experienced team, committed to the Scottish market, the focus is on building relationships and delivering value to corporate, private equity, banking and public sectors through origination and execution activity.
French Duncan
Services provided: Corporate finance, advisory and tax services, including sell side and buy side support, due diligence, valuations, succession planning, capital raising, grants advice, business planning and distressed business advisory.
Total number of staff: A seven strong corporate finance team with support from French Duncan’s 200 other staff.
Major deals completed April 2021 – March 2022:
- The sale of BluTest Laboratories to German-based Tentamus Group in May 2021.
- The sale of Peak EPM to EY in December 2021.
- The sale of Clearwater Controls to Industrial Flow Solutions, backed by Chicago-based May River Capital, in October 2021.
- The sale of Swirrl IT to TPXimpact Holdings in March 2022.
Major clients: The firm has recently undertaken projects for clients such as Scottish Enterprise, Scottish National Investment Bank and Barclays.
Corporate statement: During the year to March 2022, French Duncan advised on more than 20 deals, worth approximately £140m, in the private and public sectors. It is one of the few Scottish mid-tier practices offering a full spectrum of corporate finance services, not only able to provide lead advisory services and due diligence, but also genuine strategic consulting services to its often fast growing clients.
Harper Macleod
Services provided: The team advises businesses of all sizes in every aspect of corporate activity and at every step of a business’ lifecycle – from mergers and acquisitions to work with SMEs. They have particular experience in providing commercial legal advice to many of Scotland’s family-owned, employee-owned and owner-managed businesses, with particular strength in the healthcare, energy, technology and food and drink sectors.
Total number of staff: 395, including 77 partners, all based in Scotland.
Major deals completed April 2021 – March 2022:
- Advised Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy Statkraft, on the £121m sale of its Andershaw wind farm in South Lanarkshire, to Greencoat UK Wind.
- Advised Halfords Autocentres in relation to its acquisition of Scottish-headquartered Axle Group.
- Advised Fred. Olsen Renewables on the reorganisation of company shares and assets, creating two separate onshore and offshore companies.
- Advised Clyde Munro Group on its ongoing acquisition programme of practices across Scotland – assisting with 20 transactions with a cumulative value of more than £17m.
- Advised Incentive Games on its latest investment to support expansion.
- Advised Yoello on its equity investment funding to aid expansion plans.
- Advised Caribou Property on its investment in precision healthcare company Macomics.
Major clients: Bank of Scotland, Fred. Olsen Group, Hub NorthScotland, Admiral Insurance, Forestry and Land Scotland and the Scottish Government.
Corporate statement: Harper Macleod is a full-service independent Scottish law firm which provides services to businesses, individuals, families and public sector organisations. Growth is determined by clients' success, using law as a tool to provide innovative solutions that are tailored to their needs.
HSBC UK
Services provided: Banking services including trade and receivables finance, global liquidity and cash management, working capital finance, term loans, syndicated, leveraged acquisition and project finance, green and sustainable finance.
Total number of staff: More than 40,000 employees located in the UK, with a further 186,000 globally.
Corporate statement: HSBC supports 1.5 million companies across 53 countries by providing financial support and expertise to help them cross borders and grow. The network covers around three quarters of global trade flows.
Johnston Carmichael
Services provided: Mergers, acquisitions and disposals, management buy-outs, management buy-ins, debt advisory and structuring, fundraising, due diligence, valuations, corporate investigations, financial modelling, business turnaround advisory management, demergers, corporate strategy and strategic planning.
Total number of staff: More than 30 dedicated staff in the corporate finance and transactions tax team.
Major deals completed April 2021 – March 2022:
- Due diligence undertaken for Springfield Properties on the acquisitions of Tulloch Homes Group and Mactaggart & Mickel Group.
- Due diligence undertaken for px Holdings on the acquisition of FEL holdings.
- Sell-side adviser on the sale of Paragon Inks to Aldus Group.
- Sell-side advice on the sale of St Andrews Brewers - trading as Eden Mill - to Inverleith.
- Sell-side advice on the sale of Blue Anchor Fire & Safety to Survitec.
- Various due diligence assignments on behalf of Phenna Group, including in relation to its acquisition of JHAI and James Fisher Testing Services.
- Due diligence for Inverleith on the acquisition of a majority stake in Farmison & Co.
- Due diligence for TSG Group on the acquisitions of DRB UK Maintenance and UCPC.
- Sell-side advice on the sale of SolaSense to Expro Group.
- Tax advice to the management team of BPP Learning on the acquisition by TDR Capital.
- Tax advice to the founders of Cooper Software on the acquisition of a minority stake by YFM Equity Partners.
- Advisers to Candidate.ID on their sale to iCIMS with tax structuring advice and tax diligence support.
- Advised RMEC shareholders by providing tax structuring advice, tax diligence and Share Purchase Agreement support.
Major clients: The firm acts for a range of clients from a variety of industry sectors and locations and have particular expertise with owner-managed and private equity-backed businesses. In the last fiscal year, the transactions team completed 32 deals totalling over £300m, plus 60 commercial or tax valuations.
Corporate statement: Founded in 1936, Johnston Carmichael works with clients across the UK and beyond as an independent member firm of Moore Global Network. The transactions team delivers service and solutions on the full range of deal activity, including corporate finance, personal and corporate tax, restructuring and wealth.
KPMG
Services provided: Financial due diligence to private companies, corporates and private equity across buy-side, sell-side, refinancing and capital markets transactions, as well as identifying, structuring and executing transactions to completion, plus providing specialist debt advisory solutions.
Total number of staff: Two partners, four directors and 32 staff in Scotland.
Major deals completed April 2021 – March 2022:
- Provided multi-disciplinary buy-side advice to Emtelle UK on its overseas acquisition of AfriPipes.
- Provided project multi-disciplinary buy-side advice to Altrad on its acquisition of Doosan Babcock.
- Provided buy-side financial due diligence services to Weir Group on its acquisition of Motion Metrics International.
- Provided buy-side due diligence services to Swiss-based Sauter on its acquisition of Emtec Group.
Major clients: Although Scottish-based, KPMG has an international reach, often engaged by foreign clients looking for Scottish acquisitions or Scottish clients with international operations and growth aspirations. The senior team works UK-wide, based on sector expertise, which is then leveraged within Scotland.
Corporate statement: KPMG aims to help clients make confident, well-informed choices to drive value and deliver outstanding results. The firm brings together deep sector expertise from across local and global deal making, tax, regulatory and other advisory teams.
Lindsays
Services provided: Mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, leveraged finance and venture capital deals, including raising equity and acquisition finance and providing advice to start-ups. The firm also offers specialised advice on research spin-outs and transitioning to employee ownership.
Total number of staff: 272, including 41 partners.
Major deals completed April 2021 – March 2022:
- Acting for vendors and purchasers in acquisitions and disposals in various sectors including finance, technology, healthcare and nurseries, renewables, food and drink, video gaming and sports.
- Advising companies on the transition to employee ownership.
- Acting for investors and investees in equity and loan funding rounds across a range of sectors.
- Advising banks and borrowers on funding for acquisitions and working capital.
Corporate statement: Lindsays is a Scottish firm of experienced lawyers for people and businesses. The team works with a range of Scottish, UK and overseas companies, particularly those operating in the healthcare and hospitality sectors, as well as high growth companies, charities and family businesses.
Martin Aitken
Services provided: Advice on buying and selling businesses, due diligence, equity, debt and grant finance raising. The firm also also gives business restructuring advice, audit and accounts, personal and corporate tax compliance, specialist tax advice and finance director services.
Total number of staff: More than 100, including 11 directors.
Major deals completed April 2021 – March 2022:
- Advising on the purchase of a leisure business.
- Advising on the sale of various dental practices to both consolidators in the marketplace and other buyers.
- Advising on the sale of a business in the TV and film sector.
- Fundraising, equity, debt and grants for a growing business in the TV production sector.
Corporate statement: Martin Aitken & Co is an independent Scottish firm of chartered accountants and business advisers. The first point of contact for audit, accountancy, governance, reporting, taxation and financial needs, the firm aims to help clients achieve their vision, formulate and deliver growth strategies and maximise return on investment.
Royal Bank of Scotland
Services provided: Debt provision, cash flow management, buy-out funding, financial markets risk management, as well as international trade, via three corporate banking offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, and commercial banking offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Kirkcaldy, Falkirk, Ayr, Motherwell, Inverness, Kirkwall, Lerwick and Stornoway.
Major deals completed April 2021 – March 2022:
- James Donaldson & Sons: Undisclosed acquisition finance and revolving credit facilities to support the acquisition of Stewart Milne Timber Systems.
- Epoch Property, trading as Murphy Young: a £2.3m bi-Lateral facility to purchase additional assets.
- Iomart: a £100m revolving credit facility, lead arranger, facility agent and security agent
- Centurion Group: $300m term debt and working capital facilities.
- Northcare (Scotland): an undisclosed debt facility to assist with development of the new Balmoral Care Home in Glasgow.
- ProjectSaturn: a £163m senior secured loan facility provided to refinance existing loan facilities and a new funding to assist with development of new homes for market rent.
- Project Giovanni: a £78m senior secured loan facility to fund the acquisition of a portfolio of retail parks.
- Grampian Housing Association: £95m of senior secured loan facilities provided to refinance existing loan facilities and new funding to assist with development of new homes for social rent.
Corporate statement: RBS is headquartered in Edinburgh and is a major provider of financial solutions to companies across Scotland, the rest of the UK and globally. Its corporate and commercial, structured finance, property and sector specialists are in regional centres across Scotland and are dedicated to delivering efficient, high-quality solutions - from standard financing through to complex transactions.
Shepherd and Wedderburn
Services provided: Public and private mergers and acquisitions, equity capital market transactions, venture capital/private equity investments, share incentive arrangements, joint ventures, group restructurings and returns of capital, corporate governance, administration and regulatory compliance matters. The team focuses on property, renewables and clean energy, finance, technology, life sciences, food and drink, family businesses and the third sector.
Total number of staff: 515 staff, including 364 lawyers - 80 of whom are partners.
Major deals completed April 2021 - March 2022:
- Advising TVSquared in its $160m sale to Innovid.
- Advising long-standing client Scottish Sea Farms in its £164m purchase of the UK fish farming interests of Grieg Seafood.
- Acting for the selling shareholders in the sale of Granfit for up to £92m.
- Advising Bigblu Broadband, Harwood Capital and management on the sale of 80% of the issued share capital of QCL to a buyout vehicle controlled by Northleaf Capital Partners.
- Advised on Scottish aspects of £325m sale of Johnson Matthey’s global health division (including Macfarlan Smith Scotland) to Altaris Capital.
- Acted for Panmure Gordon (UK) on Mark’s Electrical Group’s admission to trading on AIM and placing, raising £30 million.
- Acted for Bella & Duke in a £7m investment round, led by BGF.
- Acted for S2G Ventures on the Series B financing of Intelligent Growth Solutions.
- Advising Intuitive Investments Group on its investment in and acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Touchless Innovation.
Major clients: BayWare r.e. UK, Baillie Gifford, Capricorn Energy, Chivas Brothers, Crerar Hotel Group, EDF Renewables, Epic Games, Fortinet, Miller Developments, Nuclear Liabilities Fund, the R&A, Scottish National Investment Bank, Scottish Seafarms, Taylor Wimpey, Umicore, Virgin Money and William Grant & Sons.
Corporate statement: Shepherd and Wedderburn has a track record advising some of the country’s fastest growing companies, from early start-ups and entrepreneurs to publicly-listed companies. An ability to quickly understand their goals has seen significant high value and complex deals closed in Scotland, across the UK and overseas, on their behalf. At the core of the partner-led approach is an understanding and appreciation of clients’ ambitions and objectives.
Wylie & Bisset
Services provided: Acquisitions, disposals, managed buy-outs, equity and debt fundraising, due diligence, business planning and financial modelling, business valuation, deal support and post-transaction support.
Total number of staff: 130.
Major deals completed April 2021 – March 2022:
- Advising founder on sale of majority shareholding in consultancy business.
- Lead advisory and diligence in relation to acquisition of a pharmacy company.
- Advised clients in disposal of pharmacy company.
- Due diligence for funder in relation to acquisition of Drovers Inn by Bruce Group.
- Group restructure and share scheme implementation as part of a succession planning.
- Advising on a managed buy-out process.
Major clients: Wylie & Bisset covers the whole of the UK, operating primarily with the owner managed business, but with a strong presence in the public sector. Specialist industries include manufacturing, technology, hospitality and leisure, charities, education, healthcare, social housing, retail, agriculture and professional services.
Corporate statement: The Scottish accountancy firm's corporate finance team are experienced in proactively advising clients, creating deal opportunities and providing tailored advice for corporates, funders, and owner-managed businesses.
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