Browne Jacobson’s banking & finance team describe 2022 as a “game of two halves” after completing over £2 billion worth of transactions
UK and Ireland law firm’s banking & finance team have announced they have broken through the £2 billion mark in respect of combined deal value for 2022.
The team, which is made up of 20 specialist banking & finance lawyers, also announced that despite obvious financial challenges in the economy including, inflation, rising interest rates and supply chain issues, in 2022, the team advised on various significant transactions across sectors including government, health, real estate, energy & infrastructure, retail & consumer, and tech. Deal highlights include advising:
- NatWest on its senior debt financing of the acquisition of Fluent Money by AIM listed Mortgage Advice Bureau plc
- HSBC Bank on its financing of the UK’s largest family-owned supplier of bicycles and bicycle accessories, Moore Large & Co
- Virgin Money on its funding of an employee ownership trust transaction relating to the Controlaccount group
- ThinCats in relation to its growth capital funding to arcade bar operator NQ64 to support its plans for further expansion across the UK
- Suez SA and its shareholders on its £2 billion acquisition of its former UK waste management business, Suez Recycling & Recovery UK from French business, Veolia
Paul Ray, partner in the national banking & finance practice at Browne Jacobson, said: “2022 has certainly been a year of two halves for our banking & finance practice. Despite financial challenges in the economy including, inflation, rising interest rates and supply chain issues, we had a very strong start to the first half, advising on a host of complex transactions across a diverse range of sectors. Our deal volumes were up 10% year on year by the end of H2. The second half of the year has certainly been more turbulent, and we undoubtedly saw a sudden hit to confidence in the transactional market, thanks to the sudden rise in interest rates and political uncertainty following the mini-budget.
“But there are some real positives on the horizon for 2023. There continues to be no lack of liquidity particularly with debt funds and alternative debt providers having good appetite to fund transactions, and we expect asset-based lending to pick up. We are also seeing strong demand to fund businesses in key sectors (including tech, wealth management, infra and health) and we are seeing a significant amount of green finance now available, on attractive terms. We also sense that a degree of 2023 deal activity will be driven by the possibility/probability that Capital Gains Tax could increase after the next general election.
“Despite the challenging economic backdrop, we have maintained a good pipeline of activity in the latter half of 2022 and are witnessing early signs that the economy is stabilising. Deals have certainly been moving with slower momentum in H2 2022, but we do now see that the deal market is starting to pick up again and expecting it to continue to recover.
“We look forward to those Browne Jacobson banking deals “hitting the back of the net” again as we begin the 2023 season… “bring it on”!”
Browne Jacobson’s banking & finance practice operates from the firm’s Birmingham, Manchester and Nottingham offices and is ranked Tier 1 for the East Midlands in independent legal directory, Legal 500. In addition to the various banks and other funders that the team acts for, it also supports a high number of UK and international corporates of all sizes, including high growth companies, FTSE 100 companies, institutional investors, entrepreneurs and management teams. The team also has a strong government sector offering and is considered one of the UK’s leading advisors to local and central government bodies. The team’s lawyers have extensive experience of advising on acquisition finance, real estate finance, restructurings, refinancings, project finance, asset-based lending and general finance on a bilateral, club and syndicated basis.
The team which sits alongside the firm’s national corporate finance practice won multiple accolades throughout 2022 including ‘Corporate Law Firm of the Year’ award at the East Midlands Dealmakers Awards and being named on various winning deals at a selection of Insider’s regional awards. The firm were also a recognised finalist in the ‘Regional Legal Adviser of the Year’ category at the European Private Equity Awards. Banking Associate Beth Nixon is also shortlisted as Lawyer of the Year at the 2023 Made in Manchester Awards.
You may be interested in...
On-Demand
NSIA: the thorn in the side of M&A?
Press Release
Browne Jacobson advise High Peak Borough Council on future high street funded acquisition as part of Buxton regeneration vision
Press Release
Browne Jacobson dealmakers announce completion of over 130 deals worth billions in value in 2022 and eye up healthy pipeline for 2023
Press Release
Browne Jacobson’s banking & finance team describe 2022 as a “game of two halves” after completing over £2 billion worth of transactions
Legal Update
Banking Transaction Updates - January 2023
Press Release
Browne Jacobson advises Superscript on £45m Series B funding round to transform its SME insurtech offering
Press Release
Manchester dealmakers advise Maven Capital Partners on £1m investment in fintech disruptor Nivo Solutions
Legal Update
Long live king coal?
Legal Update
Sustainable finance - great opportunity but there are risks for businesses that do not engage
Press Release - #BeingBrowneJacobson
From associate to partner in an investment lifecycle - Ryan's story
Legal Update
Trigger happy when directors’ duties are the target?
In a judgment handed down yesterday the Supreme Court has affirmed that a so called “creditor duty” exists for directors such that in some circumstances company directors are required to act in accordance with, or to consider the interests of creditors. Those circumstances potentially arise when a company is insolvent or where there is a “probability” of an insolvency. We explore below the “trigger” for such a test to apply and its implications.
Press Release
Browne Jacobson corporate tech lawyers advise Agilico on significant acquisition of managed print services specialist
Browne Jacobson’s corporate technology dealmakers have advised Agilico, a workplace technology business, on its acquisition of Capital Document Solutions Limited for an undisclosed amount.
Press Release
Browne Jacobson advise environmental giant Suez on its £2bn international acquisition of former waste management business
Browne Jacobson’s lawyers have advised Suez SA and its shareholders on its acquisition of its former UK waste management business – Suez R&R UK - from French headquartered business Veolia for an enterprise value of £2 billion.
Opinion
Sequana: Supreme clarification on the duty owed to creditors
The Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed the BTI v Sequana appeal and reviewed the existence, content and engagement of the so-called ‘creditor duty’; being the point at which the interest of creditors is said to intrude upon the decision-making of directors of companies in financial distress.
Legal Update
Banking Transaction Update July 2022 - North West transactions
There are clearly challenging macro-economic factors at play but at Browne Jacobson we continue to see good levels of transactional activity with certain sectors being particularly buoyant: healthcare, financial services, energy & infrastructure and tech.
Legal Update
Banking Transaction Update July 2022 – National transactions
Browne Jacobson continues to see good levels of transactional activity with certain sectors being particularly buoyant: healthcare, financial services, energy & infrastructure and tech.
Press Release
Browne Jacobson’s banking specialists advise HSBC UK Bank plc on management buy-out of UK’s largest family owned bicycle distributor
Browne Jacobson’s banking & finance lawyers have advised HSBC UK Bank plc on the financed management buy-out of Derby-based bicycle supplier and distributor, Moore Large for an undisclosed sum.
Press Release
Browne Jacobson broadens its construction offering with appointment of nuclear and renewable energy specialist
Browne Jacobson has broadened its national construction and engineering offering with the appointment of construction partner Zoe Stollard into its Birmingham office.
Legal Update
Banking Transaction Update February 2022 - North West transactions
Browne Jacobson’s banking & finance team continues to go from strength to strength. Its volumes are currently 25% ahead of last year’s & over the last 12 months the team advised on over 300 transactions across various sectors.
Legal Update
Banking Transaction Update February 2022 – National transactions
Browne Jacobson’s banking & finance team continues to go from strength to strength. Its volumes are currently 25% ahead of last year’s & over the last 12 months the team advised on over 300 transactions across various sectors.
Legal Update
Deal activity and market update in health and social care sector
In the last nine months of 2021 we saw a huge amount of activity across all sub-sectors of health and social care.
Press Release
Browne Jacobson’s national banking & finance team announce £1bn worth of deal activity and 25% deal volume growth in the last 12 months
Over the last 12 months, the team which is made up of 14 specialist banking lawyers advised on over 300 transactions across various sectors including healthcare, private equity, financial services and tech. The deals have a combined value of £1 billion.
On-Demand
Care Business Briefing - Deal activity dynamics in the healthcare sector
Join Browne Jacobson and Virgin Money for an on-demand webinar as they discussed their thoughts on the outlook for acquisition activity and funding in the health and care sectors.
Press Release
Browne Jacobson appoints new head of banking for Manchester to spearhead growth
Browne Jacobson has appointed Graham Ball as the new head of its banking and finance team in Manchester following a period of sustained growth for the firm’s national banking practice.
Legal Update
Banking transaction update - June 2021
What a difference a year makes! See our transaction updates and our confident output in the Banking and Finance team.
Legal Update
UK Community Renewal Fund: prospectus 2021-2022
We explain the UK Community Renewal Fund priorities, submission and assessment of proposals and points to note for authorities.
Training
Care business briefing acquisitions and funding
Browne Jacobson, Clydesdale Bank/Virgin Money and Hazelwoods Healthcare specialists discuss their thoughts on the outlook for acquisition activity and funding in the health and care sectors.Legal Update
Banking transaction update - Summer 2020
During what has been a difficult few months, it has been encouraging to see the energy and activity amongst funders as they support businesses. We have been absolutely delighted to assist our clients during this difficult time.
Legal Update
Deal prospects for 2020: challenges and opportunities
How will the current extraordinary events impact the transactional market? The COVID-19 crisis has certainly created enormous challenges for the deal market.
Legal Update
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) looks for fairer treatment of corporate customers
For many corporates, cash flow has been the most difficult issue to manage in the wake of the Government restrictions around Covid-19.
Legal Update
COVID-19 and declaring dividends
COVID-19 is currently having an unprecedented impact on the global economy. The legal framework in place for lawfully declaring dividends has not been relaxed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, so companies must take care to follow all of the usual rules when seeking to declare a dividend.
Legal Update
Mergers and acquisitions transactions and COVID-19 - 22 April update
We’ve already discussed various practical implications that COVID-19 is having on M&A transactions, but if transactions are continuing to go ahead, what are some of the legal considerations to bear in mind in the current climate?
Legal Update
Corporate tech update: Chancellor announces Future Fund to support start-ups and high-growth companies during Covid-19 pandemic
New measures have been announced today by HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with the aim of supporting the UK’s community of next-generation technology businesses.
Legal Update
Implications of covid-19 on loan documents
The effect of Covid 19 will likely impact a significant number of borrowers and lenders alike causing them to review their underlying finance arrangements to assess rights, protections and vulnerabilities.
Opinion
Predicting the future (and getting it wrong); when a bankrupt’s bad deal can’t be undone
Good news for personal insolvency practitioners, the High Court appears to have closed the door to claims by bankrupts seeking to recover pension contributions made via Income Payments Agreements.
Published Article
Is insurance the new banking? Part 4: Facing up to behaviour and risk in the London Market
In September 2019 Lloyd’s of London “… announced … actions designed to make [its] market a place where everyone can feel safe, valued and respected …” Read about the findings here.
Press Release
Browne Jacobson advises Clydesdale Bank Plc on MBO of PE Systems
National law firm Browne Jacobson has acted as legal advisers to Clydesdale Bank Plc on the management buy-out (MBO) of Wigan based company PE Systems.
Press Release
Browne Jacobson rises up Experian’s dealmaker rankings
Browne Jacobson has enhanced its reputation as one of the country’s leading M&A advisers according to the latest rankings data from Experian.
Press Release
Browne Jacobson’s half year deals activity exceeds £500m
Browne Jacobson’s Manchester office has seen the value of deals which its corporate, banking and real estate teams have advised on exceed an aggregate of £500m in the first half of its financial year, a major milestone for the firm which has grown its transactions offering considerably over the same period.
Published Article
Business ready for no deal Brexit?
On 31 October 2019, the UK could leave the EU without a signed withdrawal agreement. Read here for key points your business should consider.