George Frier

The team advised on 75 corporate finance transactions globally (excluding deals for the banking sector) – an increase of 18 per cent on its £6 billion aggregate deal value in 2019.

The firm’s corporate finance lawyers supported clients on a number of high profile clean energy and technology-led transactions, underscoring their reputation in these fast-growing and innovative sectors. Deals in the clean energy sector included:

• acting for Five Estuaries Offshore Wind Farm Limited, the project company undertaking the up to 353-megawatt extension to the operational Galloper Offshore Wind Farm, in relation to the formation of a consortium involving RWE, a Macquarie-led consortium, Siemens, Sumitomo and ESB, and obtaining the necessary seabed rights from rhe Crown Estate; and
• acting for BayWa r.e. UK Limited in its sale of the 24-megawatt Inverclyde Windfarm to Gresham House Renewable Energy LP.

The firm also advised on prominent deals in the technology and fintech sectors, such as:

• acting for Epic Games, a leading video games and video games engine developer and publisher, in its acquisitions of SuperAwesome, a pioneer in the ‘kidtech’ market, and Cubic Motion, a provider of facial animation technology;
• acting as sole adviser to AIM-listed Bigblu Broadband plc in the disposal of its European satellite broadband business to Euronext-listed Eutelsat S.A., which required the coordination of completion across 11 jurisdictions;
• acting for IndigoVision Group plc, the AIM-listed video security surveillance company, in takeover by Motorola Solutions; and
• acting for secure payment provider PCI Pal plc in connection with its share placing.

Corporate deals activity during the year spanned a wide range of sectors, including food and drink, funds and capital markets, energy, life sciences and healthcare, real estate and financial services. The team also continued to support innovative start-ups and spin-outs in securing seed financing or follow-on funding.

Other notable deals completed during the year included:

• acting for Cairn Energy plc in the sale of its entire 40 per cent interest in the Rufisque Offshore, Sangomar Offshore and Sangomar Deep Offshore (RSSD) Contract Area (including the Sangomar development) in offshore Senegal;
• acting for Kyowa Kirin, the Japanese pharmaceutical group, in the Scottish/Luxembourg cross-border merger between Kyowa Kirin International plc and Strakan International S.A.;
• acting for Collagen Solutions plc, the Glasgow-based life sciences firm, in its takeover by US group Rosen’s Diversified, Inc; and
• acting for the owners in selling the corporate vehicles that held the Auch & Invermearan Estates, constituting the largest sale of a landed estate in Scotland last year.

Commenting on 2020’s corporate deals, George Frier, head of corporate finance at Shepherd and Wedderburn, said: “This has undoubtedly been a difficult year for many businesses, but the strength and breadth of deals activity that we have seen despite these challenges is testament to the resilience of our clients and the wider business community.

“We have also entered 2021 performing very strongly, with a raft of significant deals under our belt in the first quarter and clear signs that momentum is accelerating as we emerge from lockdown.”