The Legal 500

Work Department

Corporate.

Position

Corporate partner whose practice is focused primarily on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance transactions for public companies. Much of Melanie’s work involves an international element and she has considerable expertise in advising overseas clients as they expand their businesses into the UK. She has also advised on the majority of IPOs handled by Faegre & Benson’s London office in the past decade and, in addition to working with her public company clients as they seek to address day-to-day compliance issues, Melanie has advised on a wide range of transactions including takeovers, fundraisings and corporate restructurings of public companies listed or incorporated in the UK. With particular expertise in advising natural resources companies on their admission to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, Melanie has worked with several Chinese companies on their admission to trading on that market. More recently, she was a participant in the UK government’s consultation on the Bribery Act 2010 and Melanie advises companies on compliance with the Act and other anti-corruption matters. She provides training to clients, particularly publicly traded companies, on risk assessment and policy development in this area and advises on managing exposure to liability for the acts of third parties, including in the context of cross-border acquisitions.

Career

Trained in Bristol at Burroughs Day and joined Faegre & Benson LLP’s London office in 1999; partner 2007-to date. Recent representations include: Graco Inc. in its $650m acquisition of the global finishing business of Illinois Tool Works Inc; United Stationers Inc in its acquisition of Net Junction Limited; Agfa Gevaert Limited in its purchase of Litho Supplies (UK) Limited; Chongqing Machinery and Electric Co Ltd in its acquisition of certain subsidiaries of Precision Technologies Group Limited; SocialGO plc in its acquisition of Get On With It Limited; Piper Jaffray & Co in relation to the migration of AIM company Osmetech plc to NASDAQ. Publications of note: ‘Practitioner’s Guide to the AIM Rules’ (chapter on Directors’ Dealings and Corporate Governance), Sweet & Maxwell (Sixth Edition) (2011); ‘The “Taking AIM” Survey 2011’, ‘Company Secretary’s Review’ (2011); ‘English Law, Global Risks’, ‘Risk Management Professional’ (2011); ‘The Bribery Act: What You Need to Know’, ‘Compliance Online’ (2011); ‘I Didn’t Know About Debtors’, ‘FT’ (2011); ‘Ideal Skillset for a Non-Executive’, ‘FT’ (2011); ‘AIM at the Heart of the UK Recovery’, ‘AimZine’ (2010); ‘AIM’s Reputation Restored...’, ‘AimZine’ (2010)

Languages

French.

Member

Corporate Governance Committee of the Quoted Companies Alliance, which represents the needs of public companies outside the FTSE 350; Law Society of England and Wales; French Chamber of Commerce; Women Lawyers’ Association of the City of London.

Education

Victoria College Belfast; Aston University, Birmingham (1992 BSc International Business and French); College of Law, Chester (1993 Common Professional Examination; 1994 Legal Practice Course).

Practice Areas

Corporate finance; Flotations (small and mid-cap); M&A