Member Article

Gateley Legal sees increase in Private Equity driven deals

The corporate team at Gateley Legal is reporting an uplift of activity around private equity led deals over the last 12 months. The team advised on 94 transactions involving private equity in 2020, which equates to one third of all corporate and banking deals completed by the legal and professional services group.

According to Experian Market IQ, Gateley Legal’s corporate, banking and restructuring teams are currently ranked the most active deal advisers in London, after advising on 37 corporate deals which involved a London-based firm for the first nine months of 2020. They have also been recognised as top deal adviser nationally for the last three years. Gateley Legal’s headline deals from 2020 included advising fitness apparel brand, GymShark, on all aspects of a minority investment by General Atlantic. The valuation enabled Gymshark to achieve unicorn status; a feat achieved in just eight years.

Other deals completed by the London corporate team in 2020 include advising LDC on their exit of literacy and accessibility tech company Texthelp, advising Italian food group Besana on their merger with Importaco, advising ELMO Software Limited on the acquisition of Breathe and advising Cenkos Securities on AIM placings.

Paul Hayward, corporate partner and head of Gateley Legal’s London office, commented: “It’s been an uncertain and turbulent year for many businesses. The legal sector in particular has been tested, but our private equity driven activity has stayed strong throughout the year.

“As we look ahead to 2021, there are encouraging signs that businesses are becoming more confident that they will be able to successfully emerge from the crisis. We continue to work around the clock to help clients navigate these unchartered waters, and look forward with confidence to an increasing active deals market.”

Gateley Legal has a team of over 70 corporate lawyers nationally, who advise private and public companies, owner-managed businesses and entrepreneurs on a wide range of corporate matters.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Dani Marsh .