Predominantly advising companies from startup through to exit, CMS is regularly instructed to handle multi-jurisdictional financing and seed funding rounds. The firm boasts strong links with private equity funds and venture capital investors, with its lawyers being particular experts in the real estate, TMT, and financial services spheres. John Finnemore and Anthony Waller are at the helm, each specialising in all stages of complex funding rounds and equity investments. Tom Jameson is highly knowledgeable in venture capital transactions, Edinburgh-based Helen Gillies concentrates on management buy-outs, while Sam Pout primarily focuses on strategic investments. Elliot Cowan is a fundraising and M&A specialist, and both Theo Godfrey and Corinna Lee focus on the life sciences, energy, and tech industries.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The team is characterised by outstanding legal expertise and exceptional process management. In particular, the team is able not only to provide legal assessments, but also to include the impact on economic risks. The work is perceived by all sides as adding value. We have already worked with the firm on several deals and look forward to more.’
‘CMS has a global footprint. We often work on complex deals with stakeholders/investors/targets across multiple geographies and jurisdictions. CMS then involves multiple offices with local competence to handle the deal. This is a great benefit and avoids us having to engage multiple law firms for a single deal.’
‘The advantage of this long-term relationship is that CMS understand our modus operandi, they understand how we think, which makes working with them very easy. Apart from their competence in the technicalities of legal/M&A matters and their fast turn around time, they are excellent negotiators and excellent at stakeholder management. The CMS individuals clearly provide value for money.’
‘Strong commerciality when working on deals, rather than purely following the crowd, creative problem solving when working through negotiations (especially where deals have reached an impasse). Extremely responsive, strong use of technology to streamline our secondary process across a large number of shareholders.’
‘High integrity and high empathy - will work to truly understand the problem we're facing, rather than wrap it up in red tape. Tom Jameson and the rest of the team were all fantastic when navigating sensitive situations, multiple stakeholders and tight timelines.’
Key clients
- Playgap Ltd
- Vsim
- Apron Payments
- Sycona
- Zoe Limited
- Addition Three LP
- Oriole Networks
- Validis Group Holdings Limited
- Sava Technologies
- Epidarex, BGV and Wellington
- TempoCap and Lakestar
- Flagstone
- NatureMetrics
- ApprovalMax
- OMERS
- NAP (formerly Cavalry Ventures)
- Enterobiotix
- BrightEye
- Equinor
- Entrepreneur First
Work highlights
Advised NatureMetrics on its $25m Series B financing round from Just Climate, ReOcean and EDF.
Advised Vsim Technologies, a cutting-edge UK simulation startup, on its successful seed funding round, which has raised $21.5m.
Advised Plural Platform on a c.$10.5m investment in RobinAI.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Practice head
John Finnemore; Anthony Waller
Other key lawyers
Louis Glass; Tom Jameson; Helen Gillies; Sam Pout; Elliot Cowan; Theo Godfrey; Corinna Lee