LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR


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Winner: Shoosmiths


The Deals Awards evening had now reached its halfway mark, but there was no half-interest in the next award, another highly-prized title offering Thames Valley bragging rights for the rest of the year.


Presenter Tony Hawks alerted other guests in the audience – the legal professionals were already keenly aware.


There were four shortlisted nominations for ‘Law Firm of the Year’: Pitmans, Shoosmiths, Stevens & Bolton, Osborne Clarke,


Having claimed the judges Outstanding Performance accreditation last year, Pitmans came to this category with their head of corporate, partner Andrew Peddie, already acclaimed as ‘Lawyer of the Year’ earlier in the evening.


Pitmans, which did a headline deal of its own in merging with Lamport Bassitt, worked on a large number of client transactions including the sale of Keltec to Annodata, Cohort plc’s acquisition of J&S, and the disposals of SR3C to Hyder Consulting, of Preloaded to LTG, of SEA’s space technology division to Thales Alenia Space, and of Escential to ScentAir of the US.


The corporate team at Osborne Clarke has had what it calls a “stellar year”, working on 97 transactions with an aggregate value of £2.7 billion. Big deals included Millgate/ Countryside, the flotation of Circassia, and the MBO at Clifford Thames.


Deals legally overseen by Shoosmiths ranged from Connect Communications to Cooper Callas, from Bargate Homes to Skyscape and Carewatch Care Services.


These made up a full and diverse portfolio of transactions through the year, as the firm reaffirmed its position as one of the premier legal corporate teams in the Thames Valley market.


Headline deals through the year assisted by Guildford firm Stevens THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – MAY 2015


& Bolton included Logic Group’s sale to Barclaycard; the Microlease purchase of Livingston Group; the BCA acquisition of Tradeouts; and the EPI Group deal. The MBO of insurance broker Stackhouse Poland was another headline deal.


Excitement grew in the room as Duncan Lamb, head of corporate finance Thames Valley at category sponsor Grant Thornton, came to the stage to announce the winner of the keenly contested ‘Law Firm of the Year’ title – Shoosmiths


Shoosmiths demonstrated “… specialist knowledge throughout the deal process and consequently really stand out as a Thames Valley firm who can handle high-value complex transactions with confidence and competence,” said one of the firm’s many nominations.


Another submission highlighted Shoosmiths’ outstandingly busy workbook, pointing out that the firm had been listed as the number one law firm by deal volume in the South East and the number two law firm nationally in Experian’s 2014 UK Deal Review and Advisor League Table.


Others said Shoosmiths was also “responsive, expert and professional” and acknowledged for its expertise with corporate clients and specialist ability in PE and bank-led transactions.


Emma Gibson, lead partner at Shoosmiths corporate team, later commented on the title win; the firm’s second, since it was similarly honoured in 2012. “We are delighted to have won this award again. We have always done a really wide range of transactions, and we have continued to grow our team. It is now a young and dynamic team of 23, probably the largest corporate legal team in the Thames Valley, and they are a fantastic group of people to work with. The competition is always fierce for this title, and I’m very glad we have edged it this year.”


www.businessmag.co.uk


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