law 47
The view from here
Adam Dowdney (above left) recently joined the local corporate team at Shoosmiths LLP as a partner, and gives his impression of life at a national law firm, six months in
“What has particularly impressed me is the variety, complexity and size of the deals that the team has worked on and, critically, completed in the short time I have been here. We have acted on the £116 million acquisition of Groupama for Ageas (UK), we acted for the company on the reported £60m disposal of Hamleys, we acted for Canadian listed PEER1 on its £24m acquisition of a managed hosting business, the £111m disposal by August of the Enara Group of companies and a number of sub £10m acquisitions and disposals.
“In addition we acted for Hitachi on the £4.5 billion Intercity Express train deal as well as numerous transactions for the corporate and leveraged finance teams of the key banks. The team continues to be busy and despite the continuing difficult market conditions we are still pitching for a great variety of new work which augurs well for 2013.
“All this is reflected in the fact that we are currently, in 2012, third in the list of law firms for value of deals done in the UK (research by CorpFin) and last year the team did 18 deals of over £40m. In this financial year, we have already done six deals of over £100m.”
Dowdney’s arrival brings Shoosmiths’ southern team up to 30 solicitors across the Thames Valley and Solent regions who specialise in corporate finance transactional work – banking and corporate – day in, day out.
Clients like the fact that they can tap into Shoosmiths’ specialist transaction support teams in areas including employment, property, tax, pensions, competition law and health & safety – all of which have local resident experts located at either
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – DECEMBER 12/JANUARY 13
the Reading or Southampton offices. This breadth helps to set Shoosmiths services apart, giving local companies access to a national law service, on their doorstep.
In addition, the practice has a team of dedicated banking lawyers, led by partner Rebecca Mauleverer (above right), herself a specialist banking lawyer.
Sean Wright runs the southern team and has an enviable client base of both large corporates and private equity contacts and working with Emma Gibson and the corporate team locally has provided Dowdney with an insight into the breadth of clients serviced by the Thames Valley office.
Dowdney comments: “It is key to our offering that we provide clear, concise and commercial advice as we are chosen by clients for our overall reputation as well as our individual expertise.
’Great value’
is a phrase frequently used by our clients about our services.
“Pricing is clearly important in what remains a challenging economic climate, and clients appreciate our philosophy of openness and flexibility when it comes to fees. We are able to offer competitive price structures, which represents excellent value when compared to the City-based law firms against whom we are frequently acting. We are proud to provide a first- class service of City quality, whatever the size or complexity of the deal, but not charged at City rates.
“Clients also have the assurance of the depth of in-house specialist skills that Shoosmiths is able to offer, so they feel comfortable that every aspect of their deal is supported by the right expert in the quickest possible way.”
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Dowdney also feels clients appreciate the dedicated, partner-led service offered by Shoosmiths, backed by a responsive team with well developed project management skills, crucial to doing deals in the current environment.
He adds: “Clients have commented that we are unstuffy, collaborative and approachable with commercial, pragmatic advice being delivered in plain English. We are able to offer our clients a national UK law firm, with more than 100 partners and 1,200 staff and all the experience that provides, with an excellent local reputation for doing deals in the local market in a cost effective and commercial manner. Working with Sean, Emma and Rebecca has been a superb experience so far, and we are lucky to have the support of an excellent and hard-working team. It is a great combination which is reflected in the significant number of deals on which we work and our ability to work in a collaborative and pragmatic way to get them over the line. Let’s hope 2013 continues in the same vein.”
Details:
Adam Dowdney 03700-868821
adam.dowdney@
shoosmiths.co.uk
Rebecca Mauleverer 03700-868989
rebecca.mauleverer@
shoosmiths.co.uk
www.shoosmiths.co.uk
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