Lauded for providing ‘an outstanding level of advice to clients’, Brodies LLP is equipped to advise on key domestic and international mandates, with extensive activity pertaining to M&A in the financial services, tech, life sciences, and food and drink sectors. The firm also handles a range of investment deals, fundraising and investment rounds, conversions, and disposals and exits. Group lead Neil Burgess is ’exceptional’ across the full gamut of corporate and commercial work, handling substantial M&A, PE, joint ventures, and corporate governance and restructuring instructions. William Mcintosh is the primary contact for many of the firm’s European and US buyout house and fund mandates, and Derek Stroud counts Scottish Enterprise as a key client. David Lightbody has a proven track record in M&A and PE transactions in the food and drink and healthcare sectors. Duncan Cathie is widely praised for the ‘expertise, dedication and communication skills’ he displays throughout the lifecycle of a deal, while Alasdair Dunn’s venture capital and early start-up work is a growing feature of his broad practice. Shuna Stirling is noted for her corporate real estate expertise, and Paul Breen focuses on company law.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The Corporate and Commercial team at Brodies provide an outstanding level of advice to clients, with a personable style that puts clients at ease when going through transactions. The Brodies Corporate team will always seek to provide easy to understand advice to clients, and guide them through complex legal matters.’
'I have found Duncan Cathie to be a very diligent and hardworking lawyer, who will go to great lengths to deliver for clients. Duncan always impresses with his technical knowledge and expertise, and has a strong understanding of the financial aspects of a corporate transaction.'
‘Neil Burgess has always been exceptional, picking up on the smallest details and handling complexity very well. He makes sure he protects the client's legal and commercial interests at all times. An excellent negotiator.’
‘I have worked on a number of transactions with Tom Boulton-Jones, and he consistently provides excellent advice to clients. Tom is very approachable and personable, putting clients at ease and providing easy to understand advice. I would recommend Tom to any business owner.'
‘I would like to give special praise to Duncan Cathie specifically for his expertise, dedication and communication skills throughout the entire sale process. Without Duncan, I don't believe we would have ever have become comfortable enough to push the deal through considering the complexity of dealing with non-UK entities and share purchase agreements.'
‘The practice has excellent partner relationships running throughout. This allows clients to tap into a wealth of knowledge and experience across a range of speciality fields. During our business transfer negotiations it was essential that we engaged the services of a practice that could offer high levels of expertise in a number of areas. Brodies LLP were able to do this and provided our company with an excellent professional service throughout the process.'
‘We worked closely with Derek Stroud and Alasdair Dunn on a complex M&A transaction. Derek Stroud and Alasdair Dunn are excellent to work with. They are very responsive, extremely diligent, easy to work with, and spot on in drafting. It is a delight to work with them. You can fully trust them. They also have a great team supporting them on the transaction.’
‘The team led by Neil Burgess provides comprehensive advice across all of our business needs. Brodies' advice is always detailed and commercial. Brodies have access to top quality advice across almost all jurisdictions making international work seamless.’
Key clients
- Scottish Enterprise
- Edrington
- Last Mile Infrastructure Group
- Alba Bank Limited
- GoFibre Group
- ACS Clothing Limited
- Airtasker UK Limited
- Accel-KKR
- Groupe Atlantic
- Scottish National Investment Bank
Work highlights
Advised Airtasker, a global online services marketplace, on an equity investment by, and partnership with, Channel 4 Ventures.
Advised Scottish Enterprise supporting on deals which involved equity, convertible loan notes, conversions and exits in relation to more than 50 Scottish businesses.
Advised Groupe Atlantic, a French multi-national HVAC provider, on its major investment in Clade Engineering Systems.
Lawyers
Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
William McIntosh
Shuna Stirling
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
David Lightbody
Leading associates
Leading associates with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
Practice head
Neil Burgess
Other key lawyers
William McIntosh; Derek Stroud; David Lightbody; Duncan Cathie; Alasdair Dunn; Shuna Stirling; Paul Breen; Tom Boulton-Jones