James is a Partner in the Corporate team.
He supports businesses and business owners with a broad range of corporate transactions and corporate advisory work, providing both strategic and pragmatic commercial advice to help them fulfil their ambitions. James’ work includes a broad scope of corporate matters, including share sales and purchases, business and asset acquisitions and disposals, reorganisations and demergers, management buy-outs and buy-ins, joint ventures, shareholder arrangements, private equity transactions and venture capital investments.
His clients range from owner managed businesses to public companies, operating across a range of sectors including manufacturing, logistics, renewable energy and service based businesses. His expertise includes working with the UK subsidiaries of international businesses.
James has expertise within the franchising sector where he acts on resales of franchised businesses for franchisors and franchisees. In addition, he acts as a trusted advisor to technology based start-ups, advising on their strategic direction and guiding them through the complex processes associated with advancing their business.
Recent examples of how James has supported clients include:
- advising the sellers of a manufacturing and distribution business to execute its sale to a global company which was also a key supplier;
- acting for a plc client on the sale of its logistics business to a competitor for a purchase price of circa £100 million;
- supporting the management team on the management buy-out of a company in the automation sector;
- advising a start-up specialising in the manufacturing of biodegradable packaging in respect of obtaining investment, its shareholding structure, protection of its know-how and trade secrets and general commercial arrangements (including cross border contractual arrangements);
- working with a national lettings / estate agency client to redevelop its franchisee resale process to streamline and drive efficiencies; and
- supporting a client with a capital reduction demerger which resulted in successfully splitting substantial farmland into three distinct groups.