LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by:
Winner: Pitmans
We were at the halfway mark of the evening, with the audience very definitely in a ‘glass half-full‘ mode – and now focusing on another highly-prized award among Solent professionals.
The four award nominees were: • Blake Morgan • Moore Blatch • Pitmans • Shoosmiths
Lynn Knight of Shoosmiths had already gained the Lawyer of the Year award, so would any of the contenders prevent the celebration of a potential Deals Awards double?
Two of the highlights in Blake Morgan‘s year were acting for Raymond Brown on a £20 million debt raise, and for HSBC on loan facilities for a confidential site acquisition. Yet again, the firm‘s year involved the handling of more than 100 corporate transactions across the south.
With corporate finance lawyers in Southampton and an expanding presence in London, Moore Blatch regularly punches above its weight. Roger Bailey and his team worked on deals worth a total of more than £200m in the qualifying period. Significant deals included Wunelli, Armfield, Liberata UK, and acquisitions of Trustmarque Solutions, Axell Wireless, and Bytes Document Solutions.
Pitmans‘ Solent office completed 20 deals of significance in the qualifying period. Key deals included the BIMBO of John Charcol and Towergate Financial; three acquisitions for Specialist Tours (funded by Panoramic Growth Equity); acquisitions for Premier Marinas and The Appointment Group; the disposals of Impact Group, Meercat Workboats, Premium Crops and Lambert Brothers; equity investment by Altitude Partners in Chameleon Travels; the Quantel and Snell merger; and MBO of Datwyler.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – JULY/AUGUST 2015
The Solent office of Shoosmiths had a strong portfolio of deals in 2014 including Bargate Homes, disposal of J&Bs, Hamble Yacht Services, sale of Harding Brothers, sale of Ultimate HC, acquisition of Besse & Mill, disposal of Wessex Fertility Holdings and the management buyout of Kondor, backed by HIG Capital.
Expectations peaked as Tim Walker (right), managing director at category sponsor Taylor Made, announced the winner of the prestigious Law Firm of the Year title – “a firm that through its acquisition of Lamport Bassitt last year has hit the ground running in the Solent region, building on quality work and contacts“ – Pitmans.
Afterwards Sean Kelly (second left), partner of the corporate team at Pitmans, commented on the successful integration of the Pitmans and Lamport Bassitt legal teams: “It‘s been fantastic. For years Lamport‘s had a very solid presence on the South Coast delivering transactions, but there were always issues around scale.
“Now, being part of a substantially-sized firm, with other offices in London and Reading and resources and skills in all the key areas, has given us the chance to go after ever-more demanding transactions and deliver a more comprehensive service to clients.
“Integration is never easy but it has been aided here by the welcoming supportive nature of Pitmans. We are all focused on a one-firm approach. We don‘t see this as a series of three regional offices, but one firm operating across the south of England and indeed elsewhere. We all pull together and are not departmentalised into individual areas, which is a great way of doing business. My congratulations go to the Pitmans‘ management team for achieving that.
“We‘ve had an incredibly busy and challenging year, with an enormous number of transactions. In fact I‘m not sure we have ever done more. And, there‘s no particular indication that things will change any time soon.“
www.businessmag.co.uk
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