North West law firm makes national top 10 for mergers and acquisitions

Global information services group Experian has named commercial law company Brabners the North West’s most active legal adviser for mergers and acquisitions, and the tenth most active in the country.

In an independent report covering the first half of 2015, Experian’s rating saw Brabners climb seven places in the national ranking. The law firm, which operates offices in Liverpool, Manchester and Preston, reported handling 35 M&A deals in the first six months of this year, which represents a year-on-year increase of 59%.

Brabners said that while the deals mostly involved the property services, manufacturing and construction sectors, its teams are also seeing a rising number of technology-based transactions.

David Bowcock, a partner at Brabners who serves as the head of corporate in Manchester, said: “We’re continuing to see the effects of a buoyant market, with ambitious corporates remaining keen to invest, rather than sit on cash reserves while interest rates remain low.

“Our activity has covered a wide range of sectors but we are seeing increased activity involving technology businesses. It’s a trend which is likely to continue as maturity in the region’s tech sector produces attractive new investment opportunities.”

In Experian’s MarketIQ report, Brabners also secured a place in the top 10 in Scotland, and came in joint second place in Wales as one of the most active legal advisers for M&A deals.

In Q2 2015, Brabners’ notable transactions include advising SystemsUp, a cloud computing facilitator, while it was being acquired by tech group iomart. Brabners also acted on behalf of GHA Livigunn as it merged with GHD, a provider of construction services. Further, the law firm advised Baa Bar Group during restructuring.

Brabners’ head of corporate in Liverpool, Mark Rathbone, is also a partner at the firm. He commented: “We’ve had a strong half year, with the hotel and leisure sector also showing signs of increased activity.

“Current indicators point to that momentum continuing into Q3, as our teams’ reputation inside and outside the region continues to grow, and with a solid pipeline of work already in place for the second half of 2015 we’re looking forward to continuing to support and deliver the strategic ambitions of our clients across the UK.”

The corporate team at Brabners has previously ranked among the region’s most active M&A advisers, having advised on more deals in 2012, 2013 and 2014 than any other company. Last year, the firm’s revenues rose by 4.5% to £30.2m.