LAWYER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by:
Winner: Andrew Peddie
The third award was the first of the evening to highlight the performance of an individual.
Dealmaking generally involves an informed input from various professional disciplines, but individual legal skills, experience and knowledge can be crucial in identifying and resolving concerns and then achieving acceptable compliant documentation – both confidence-building activities that help to underpin successful deal closure.
There were six contenders, including two each from two law firms: Emma Gibson and Adam Dowdney of Shoosmiths, Hugh Jones and Greg Leyshon of Osborne Clarke, who joined Andrew Peddie of Pitmans, and Keith Syson of Stevens & Bolton on the shortlist.
Emma Gibson, who leads the corporate team at Shoosmiths’ Reading office, is one of the Thames Valley’s best-known lawyers – and a previous winner of this prized title. The LDC backed MBO of Connect Communications and the Business Growth Fund’s (BGF) investment in Skyscape Cloud Services were just two deals she advised upon in a full-on year.
Adam Dowdney is a key part of the close-knit team at Shoosmiths where, in a very busy year, deals ranged from Prowting’s investment in Bargate to the disposal of Watch Shop. Dowdney’s expertise includes M&A, fundraising and buyouts.
Greg Leyshon, specialising in private equity clients, led Osborne Clarke on a hatful of deals including the Millgate/Countryside merger, the MBO of Clifford Thames, the sale of Penn Pharma, and the sale of Precise Media.
Hugh Jones, Leyshon’s Osborne Clarke colleague, is renowned for his work with bankers, acting among others for HSBC on the Williams F1 financing; for Santander on Harwell Science and Innovation Campus funding; and for RBS on the WPI acquisition.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – MAY 2015
Pitmans
Andrew Peddie, head of Pitmans’ corporate team, had a very strong year, with deals ranging from Cohort plc’s acquisition of J+S, the sale of SEA’s space division to Thales Alenia Space of France, the sale of Preloaded to Learning Technologies Group plc, the sale of SR3C to Hyder Consulting, and closing fundraising for the Brighton i360 leisure development.
Keith Syson is head of corporate at the Guildford firm of Stevens & Bolton and advised on Esdevium Games’ sale to Asmodee, the sale of SIS Outside Broadcast assets, the BCA acquisition of Life on Show and Trade Outs, and the secondary buyout of MedicX Holdings.
Taylor Made Computer Solutions, the leading specialist in IT solutions for law firms and other professionals in the south, was sponsoring this award for the first time. Tim Walker, MD of Taylor Made, went on stage to announce Andrew Peddie as the winner.
Peddie, who joined Pitmans in 2009, later explained his success: “For me it’s come about through a build-up both in my client base and the increasingly healthy M&A environment. In fact, this time last year when these Deals Awards were going on I was in the middle of a very busy work period, which, with the completion of deals, I guess has produced this outcome.
“My main focus is on building corporate client relationships for the long term, focusing on giving those clients what they need in terms of M&A legal advice. That’s not unique, but it plays to my strengths and the fact that through and through I am a lawyer. My role is to advise, but at the legal stage of the deal process I try to drive it hard and fast.”
www.businessmag.co.uk
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