The Legal 500

Moving up a tier this year, Browne Jacobson LLP continues to attract new clients and top-quality work in both corporate finance and commercial. The ‘proactive’ Gavin Cummings heads the private equity practice and led the team’s £75m secondary buy-out of Brittons and the £30m buy-out of Brownhills. M&A specialist Nigel Blackwell - ‘an extremely strong lawyer with a wealth of experience’ - demonstrated his MBO expertise during 2008, acting for management on both the MBO of Fresh-Pak and on the sale of Dorset Cereals; and Richard Cox acted on a disposal by packaging company Amcor Flexibles. Sharon Jones’ commercial team acted for longstanding clients including Arla Foods, YHA and Nottingham County Council on a range of contractual and advisory matters.

Eversheds LLP stands out in the East Midlands for its ability to service local, national and international clients through its Nottingham team and the wider Eversheds LLP network. Stephen Kitts - described as of ‘outstanding calibre with a great knowledge of corporate deals’ - heads the firm’s corporate group across the central region, and acted on the £88m sale of international building component business Ancon Limited. The team also completed the £90m equity restructuring of Danwood Group, contributing to the team’s high turnover of deals, totalling £1.2bn. 2008 saw the firm’s clean energy practice go from strength to strength, with newly promoted partner Stephen Hill acting for the European utility bidder on the largest offshore wind farm in the UK, and for Kedco plc in its biomass portfolio roll-out.

Also a leading corporate player in the East Midlands, Freeth Cartwright LLP shows a strong track record in care sector acquisitions and financings. ‘Excellent‘ Nottingham corporate head Karl Jansen (‘very knowledgeable, responsive and commercially pragmatic’) continues to act for Experian on its acquisitions and disposals, while Murray Macnab in Derby was active in 2008 for Belle Group in its proposed merger with French construction plant manufacturer Altrad, a transaction with significant competition law issues. John Heaphy and Phil Baigent acted on the £18.4m sale of Birchwood Group Holding Limited and acquisitions for Dollar Financial UK respectively. Philip Raven is ‘very commercial, always available and very well connected‘.

Geldards LLP’s corporate team, under Andrew Borkowski, had a busy start to 2008 and finished the year advising on 75 transactions with a total value of over £170m. The team has diversified from its healthcare and motor sector focus, with Hugh Strickland recently acting on a venture capital investment into e-learning business AtlanticLink Limited, and the ‘thorough, accurate, responsive and commercial’ David Tilly advising US private equity house Hammond Kennedy Whitney on its acquisition of Special Application Robotics, Inc. Clients regard the solidly performing commercial department as offering ‘a really outstanding quality of work and delivery’; the client relationship management style of Roman Surma is popular with clients - ‘he is there when you want him but he doesn’t interfere’.

HBJ Gateley Wareing LLP is shaping up to be a major Midlands player, with the corporate team in Nottingham and Derby going from strength to strength in 2008 in terms of quality and breadth of transactions. Austin Moore and the ‘technically excellent’ Mark Rutherford - who has reached ‘trusted adviser status’ with clients - handled a range of MBOs for management during the year. Highlights included advising M2 Financial Limited on its sale to Towergate Financial Services, and developing the team’s waste management sector profile with two acquisitions for Waste Recycling Group and DCC plc. Clients regard the team as ‘offering value in their solutions, being committed to deadlines and driving processes forward’.

Praised by one client as ‘one of the most responsive firms I have ever encountered with tremendous depth of experience and a no-nonsense approach’, Shoosmiths’ corporate team has grown to 20 fee-earners over the past year, and advised on 56 corporate transactions with a combined deal value of £130m. Amongst these, Chris Garnett advised Amco Corporation plc on a £9.4m sale to management, and the ‘straightforward, reliable’ Peter Seary advised US-based Copart Inc in an acquisition of a salvage sales concern. This group has developed its biofuels manufacturing experience through its role in the launch of a UK biofuels manufacturing project being undertaken by Vivergo. Commercial head Andrew Pickin co-ordinated the cross-disciplinary team on this groundbreaking venture. Crispin Bridges Webb has joined from Eversheds LLP.

Duncan James at Berryman is an acknowledged dealmaker in the region, and has pushed through many notable deals for management and shareholders in a difficult climate. His team continues to garner instructions from its panel positions with banks such as Yorkshire Bank, HSBC and Handelsbanken, and corporate finance instructions from AIB, The Co-Operative Bank and Bank of Ireland.

As well as closing its Nottingham office, Flint Bishop Solicitors has seen other changes to its team this year, with new head of corporate in Derby, Ran Oren, joining from Clyde & Co LLP in mid-2008. His ‘quality of advice and level of customer service is second to none’, while commercial head Andrew Pilkington ‘stands out due to his drive and commitment’. Recent deals include the sale of The Midland Hotel, Matlock Garden Centres and John Bradley Financial Services.

Clients ‘appreciate the sense of duty and commitment’ of the five partners at Nelsons, whose SME clients are drawn from a variety of sectors. Advice ranging from group restructurings to MBOs and business acquisitions is provided. Michelle Craven has been handling the complex commercial contracts required by Tekdata Interconnections Ltd for its supply of cabling and connectors to a NASA contractor of optical telescope supplies.

The continuing high regard in which longstanding clients hold the corporate and commercial team at Actons can be attributed to the focus of Adrian Foster’s group on maintaining and growing relationships with the owner managed business sector. The team includes corporate finance expert Simon Dakin (who impresses clients with his ‘personal attention to assignments and commercial approach to finding solutions’) and rising star Peter Flowerday, and advised on matters including a £1m MBI in the building industry; the sale of a specialist UK packaging distribution business; and the establishment of an upstream supply network in the Far East and distribution arrangements in the UK and the US for a leisure and fitness industry client.

Clients comment that at Smith Partnership ‘prices are competitive; they provide a professional yet friendly service and are a pleasure to deal with’. With a particular focus on the care sector, the ‘attentive, diplomatic and very hardworking’ Fiona Boxwell specialises in acting on acquisitions and disposals for clients from SMEs to national companies.