Frank Shephard

DWF acted on deals across all of the business’ core sectors, but technology transactions amassed the highest value of deals with a total value surpassing £1.25 billion.

These included acting for Inflexion on the disposal of Mobica Holdings Limited to Cognizant, valuing Mobica at £250 million; Scottish National Investment Bank on a number of investments; Keywords on its strategic acquisitions and NorthEdge Capital LLP on its investment into HR software specialists, Cezanne HR.

DWF’s corporate activity was fuelled further by the financial services sector, including Sovereign Capital’s investment in LB Group and acquisitions for AFM Wealth, Ascot Lloyd and MKC Wealth.

The team also advised global logistics services provider, Cardinal, on its sale to its employees – making it the biggest employee-owned company of its kind in the world and completed a number of transactions for the RSK Group.

The real estate sector also accounted for a substantial portion of the business’ corporate transactions, including advising the Herbert Group on its acquisition of South Belfast retail complex Forestside, one of the largest investment purchases in Northern Ireland last year; and Hamburg-based RIMC Hotels & Resorts on its purchase of historic hotel, 30 James Street, situated in Liverpool city centre.

Frank Shephard, global head of corporate at DWF, said: “In 2023, our UK and Ireland team navigated a dynamic landscape and demonstrated a strong performance by securing a sustained volume of impactful high-value transactions across our eight core sectors.

“The continued success of our sector led approach and use of technology-driven solutions to improve the deal process for clients mirrors our commitment to strategic insight and reflects our unwavering commitment to providing a high quality and efficient offering for our clients in the face of ongoing economic uncertainty.”