Sectors

Private Equity

The private equity market in the UK continues to see record levels of activity

Funds continue to be raised, new investments made and exits realised.  During the life of an investment we are seeing a greater emphasis on active management of portfolios, a trend of bolt-on / buy-and-build investment propositions and active post-transaction integration. This comes with it more scrutiny on the portfolio company and its exit-readiness, as well as its risk profile and ESG performance during the life of an investment

Private equity team in discussion

Recent transactional experience

Access UK Ltd

Advising Access UK Ltd (backed by TA Associates and HgCapital) on numerous acquisitions over a significant period of time, including the acquisition of Legal Bricks, an online property search platform, and Oosha, an integrated cloud IT services provider, as part of its buy-and-build investment proposition.

Agilio Software

Advising Agilio Software (backed by August Equity) on the acquisition of INICA’s specialist cloud-based dental software modules, and MyHRtoolkit, which provides secure HR software.

AirIT

Advising AirIT (backed by August Equity) on the acquisition of companies such as MFG UK, a managed IT, cyber security and communication specialist, and Infinity IT Solutions, which provides IT support and maintenance.

Simply Conveyancing

Advising Simply Conveyancing (backed by Livingbridge) on the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Pirie Palmann Holdings Limited.

Focus areas

We offer our clients bespoke business solutions to help them navigate challenges, realise ambitions and further accelerate growth

GRIP

GRIP, our Governance Reporting Information Portal, is a “one stop shop” where Private Equity investors can monitor your portfolio, track the performance of individual companies, and access relevant compliance documents.

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Management advisory

We understand that the senior management team is crucial to the success, not only of any corporate finance process, but to the performance of an investment.  We are experienced in advising Private Equity-backed portfolio companies and their management teams and recognise that management need to be appropriately included in any process, and incentivised by it, but equally they must not hold up any transaction or risk its success. We know our way through these issues and can offer unconflicted, specialist advice

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Post-acquisition Integration

When looking to grow your business through acquisition, it is crucial to ensure that your acquisition aligns to the strategic and operational objectives of your business. We believe that post-acquisition work should begin well in advance of binding bids being approved, ensuring that integration is a prime focus and that results are delivered by the time your business returns to business-as-usual.

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Portfolio Company Focus

We advise Private Equity-backed portfolio companies and their management teams. We have a significant specialism in bolt-on and buy-and-build M&A for portfolio companies.

Recent corporate deals

Our Private Equity team sits as part of our wider Corporate Group and advise on a wide range of deal activity, including mergers and acquisitions, investments, management buyouts, reconstruction and demergers.

See our recent deals

Related Services

Related Services

Corporate projects demand legal advice at the speed of business.

Whatever your needs, goals or ambitions our team work hard to tailor services which help deliver our clients’ ambitions at every stage of a company’s journey.

Corporate

At Foot Anstey, we’re invested in our team of banking and finance experts. We hire, develop and retain lawyers with deep specialisms in specific areas of finance law – because we know you need and want more than a jack of all trades.

Finance

Having the right people in the right place, displaying the right behaviours through the right processes can be just as hard as it sounds.

Our experienced team of experts are able to provide you with timely, commercial advice for day-to-day advice to project support.

Employment

Whether or not your company has an in-house legal function, running a business today presents many complex challenges.

We think it’s important that we genuinely get to know our clients businesses – that’s how we can deliver value that goes beyond just the monetary.

Commercial

The way we live, buy, travel and are entertained – indeed all aspects of our lives – have been transformed by technological and digital advances.

We understand the commercial possibilities of data and seek to support you with the delivery of your data-related business strategy.

Data

Every business, from start-ups. through to international business giants, has intellectual property rights.

At Foot Anstey, our expert lawyers have a holistic approach to helping you manage your intellectual property.

Intellectual Property

Life as a General Counsel can be tough – balancing dealing with a wide range if proactive and reactive legal issues and risk management on behalf of your organisation, while also dealing with the operational side of the role such as running a team, supplier management, systems, processes and technology.

Our General Counsel services model takes a unique approach to working with you and helping you to address these challenges.

General Counsel Services

The numbers behind the team

Our strong Private Equity team spans a number of specialisms with a diverse range of backgrounds; all of our lawyers bring with them a wealth of experience, with many of our senior lawyers hailing from City backgrounds.

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Number of PE deals in 2022

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Number of PE-backed portfolio companies advised in 2021

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Number of Bolt-On Acquisitions advised on in 2021

Key contacts

Our team has seen steep organic growth over the past 5 years, having expanded its ranks to service a growing roster of prestigious clients.

Why choose Foot Anstey

Our award-winning and highly commercial Private Equity team is focused on advising Private Equity backed portfolio companies and their management teams. We have a significant specialism in advising on bolt-on and buy-and-build M&A for portfolio companies. We have also developed technology-enabled solutions to enhance portfolio company reporting and compliance.

What sets us apart is our ability to support our clients at every stage of the investment cycle, from the initial deal through to portfolio integration post-completion and ongoing management of portfolio companies.

While our team’s credentials are backed up by legal directory rankings and awards, what we believe is more valuable is the depth of our experience; we’ve taken the time to really understand the challenges faced by PE-backed portfolio companies and their management teams face and have developed practical and innovative solutions to support their needs. With seven offices nationally, our lawyers are able to provide the City quality service that a PE backer would expect, without the City firm price tag.

Team outside

What our clients say

The skill, experience and expertise of the firm was just as good, if not better than the mid-market (silver circle) firms we typically work with but the value was far better given the charge out rates are more competitive.

Legal 500 2021

Brilliantly practical and give their views on what clients should consider and do (rather than just “seeking client instructions”).

Legal 500 2021

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