Karen is a Partner in the Corporate team.
She specialises in advising large and medium-sized businesses on their strategic growth, including corporate acquisitions and disposals, private equity investments, boardroom issues, and in regard to capital markets.
Karen’s merger and acquisition work includes strategic advice on structuring deals, streamlining for serial acquisitions, complex international and cross-border deals, equity investment, compliance, and corporate governance. For transformational deals, as a trusted advisor, she advises on the associated impact on lending arrangements, investor consents and corporate authority.
Karen works with private and public companies, investors, and management teams across a wide range of sectors including in the hotels and leisure, retail, manufacturing, and financial services sectors. She also has a growing practice with IP-rich technology businesses and has experience in fintech, edtech and biotech, advising on funding for growth.
Recent examples of how Karen has supported clients include:
- supporting global learning and skills business Malvern International plc over 10 years including on its AIM placing, subscription for new equity, and acquisition of Communicate English School in Manchester;
- selling 90 per cent of the shareholding in its UK trading subsidiary for an AIM-listed Australian company in an all-share deal worth AUS $18.55 million (£10.5 million);
- leading the legal processes on the acquisitions and disposals of several private equity backed hotel assets;
- facilitating investments by YFM Equity Partners into e-learning software business Elucidat and business telecoms company 4net Technologies Ltd; and
- working with the team behind investment company Amacor Capital to set up the investment structure and buy-and-build strategy of acquiring independent retail convenience stores and small supermarkets.