Corporate team at Newcastle’s Watson Burton grows deal count 60%

Commercial law firm Watson Burton saw a sharp uptick in demand for its corporate services last year, according to new figures.

The number of deals advised on by the Newcastle-headquartered company’s corporate team hit 110 in 2018 – a year-on-year increase of almost 60%.

Deals included advising healthcare diagnostics firm QuantuMDx on its equity fundraising and Sunderland-based behavioural marketing business SaleCycle on an £11.5m investment from BGF.

Watson Burton was also active in the pharma and biotech markets last year, supporting BGF on its £5m growth capital investment in Northumberland contract R&D organisation Arcinova, and advising NVM Private Equity on a £1.5m investment in Newcells Biotech.

In the tech sector, the firm advised Gateshead-based intranet software firm Orchidsoft after it secured £2.7m backing to boost sales, ramp up marketing and hire new staff.

The head of Watson Burton’s corporate team, partner Duncan Reid, said: “2018 was a highly exciting year for Watson Burton’s corporate team.

“We drew on our high level experience of working on major investment and M&A deals to support innovative businesses in several sectors, and once again demonstrated our specialist capabilities to deliver quality work and service to our clients.”

He added: “We expect to be bringing this expertise to bear extensively in 2019, as we believe that private equity investors will continue to seek new opportunities.”

In addition to its Newcastle HQ, Watson Burton has offices in Leeds and London. The firm’s core practice areas are corporate, employment, real estate, construction and dispute resolution.