Corporate and commercial: Hampshire

Amanda Brockwell

LLP Partner

Sean Wright

Sean heads up the National Private Equity practice and leads the South Corporate team covering its Solent, Thames Valley and Milton Keynes offices. A top-class corporate partner, he is identified by Chambers and Partners as ""a leader in his fields"" and in Legal 500, he is ""considered to be the best corporate lawyer on the South coast."" Since joining Shoosmiths in 2004, Sean has built the private equity team into the first-class national practice it is today. Acting for equity providers, management teams and financial sponsors. the team have a unique national footprint, with a top-class equity offering across the UK from Edinburgh to Solent. Major deals where Sean has recently acted include: • acting for LDC on the sale of CIPHR to ECI Partners and its investment in FSP; • acting for Management on the buyout of Ascenti Health by bd-capital partners; • acting for the Sellers on the acquisition of and management on the buyout of Phoenix Datacom by an LDC backed Newco; • acting for the shareholders of Solent Group on its £117m sale to quoted Swedish corporate Humble Group AB (publ); • acting for the shareholders of Spectrum Corporate Finance on its sale to FRP for c £12.4m; • acting for Dukes Education Group on various acquisitions including Northwood Schools, Hampton Court House and The Kindergartens Group of nurseries; • acting for Castik Capital backed TBAuctions on its acquisition of British Medical Auctions; and • acting for management on the sale of eCogra to Hanover Investments. Sean Wright has been ranked in The Chambers 100 – a prestigious list of the best 100 business lawyers in the UK. Sean has been ranked on the list for his ‘commercial awareness and negotiation skills’, and ability to ‘maintain goodwill but win the key points’. Sean ‘provides hands-on personal service and has loads of experience and the ability to negotiate in a friendly way.’ The Chambers 100. Sean qualified in London in 1990, gaining practical experience with a year’s secondment to Shell International Plc. He joined Shoosmiths in 2004 as an Equity Partner.

Emma Livesey

Emma is a Principal Associate in the Corporate team based in the Solent office. She advises on a wide range of corporate matters including acquisitions and disposals, private equity transactions, group reorganisations, investments, corporate governance and compliance issues. Emma works with a variety of clients including private equity investors, private companies, management teams and owner managed businesses. Recent transactions include: advising LDC and the shareholders of BOFA International on the sale of fume and dust extraction systems specialist BOFA International, whose headquarters are in Poole, to USA NYSE listed Donaldson Company Inc for a value of £90 million. Donaldson agreed to acquire an 88% stake in BOFA for £79 million valuing the business at £90 million and Emma assisted with both the disposal by LDC and management as well as advising management on their continued shareholding post-completion. This followed the initial advice Emma provided in August 2015 when LDC completed their investment into the company to support the £23 million management buyout of the previous management team; acting on the sale of Hamleys, the famous toy retailer to Reliance Industries in a deal worth nearly £70 million. Emma also worked on the previous sale of the group in 2015 to Chinese footwear group C.banner International; and advising the shareholders on the sale of specialist IT-provider Taylor Made Computer Solutions (TMCS) to Peach Technologies, creating one of the UK's biggest IT managed providers as a result. She was awarded the 'Young Dealmaker of the Year' award at the Solent Deals Awards 2019.

Lisa Sigalet

Lisa is a Partner within the Corporate department, based in the Solent office. Lisa advises on a wide range of corporate matters and her experience includes advising on acquisitions, disposals, reorganisations and corporate governance. Recent transactions include: acting for Benefex Limited in relation to the initial investment by Business Growth Fund, the first BGF investment in the UK, as well as various corporate matters including acquisitions, disposals and restructuring, and on the subsequent exit of BGF as investors following a purchase from Bain Capital Private Equity; acting for Meridian Growth Capital Limited on a number of investments, including advising on the initial investment into the start up loveholidays Limited in 2012 and the eventual £190 million sale to Livingbridge Private Equity; acting for the Matchtech plc group on the acquisition of Application Services Limited and the subsequent placing of shares on AIM; and advising Portchester Equity on a number of investments and disposals, including Chevron, Hi Technology Group and St Francis Veterinary Services.    

Gemma Spiceley

Gemma specialises in private company acquisitions and disposals, helping businesses to grow through acquisition, with particular experience in retail, healthcare and childcare sectors.

Nick Gent

Partner

Lucy Gleisner

Lucy is a Partner and head of the firm’s Corporate team. She is a highly experienced corporate finance lawyer advising buyers, sellers and funders on mergers, acquisitions and disposals, management buy-outs and buy-ins and joint ventures. Lucy also acts for companies or individuals in relation to associated corporate matters such as shareholder, partnership and LLP agreements, share options and other constitutional matters. Her clients range from SMEs and owner managed businesses to international group companies.