Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Robert leads Blake Morgan’s Corporate team. He has a broad range of corporate transactional experience. He regularly deals with acquisitions, disposals, management buy-outs and buy-ins, private equity and venture capital transactions.
Paul is a partner and shareholder at Acuity Law, and a member of our Senior Leadership Team. Paul represents a range of high-profile corporate clients throughout the UK and internationally. His extensive track record as a lead adviser on high-value corporate and commercial transactions has led to industry recognition from The Legal 500, which lists him in the Hall of Fame, and from Chambers and Partners, where he is ranked Band 3. Prior to joining Acuity, he was a corporate partner at Eversheds, leading its Cardiff corporate team for 15 years. As well as being qualified in England and Wales he is admitted to practice in Hong Kong, and spent four years working for Reed Smith, Hong Kong. Paul’s impressive client list includes Scansource Inc, Alamo Group Europe, Peter’s Food Services, Harris Pye and Notemachine. Expertise: Corporate deals and transactions – mergers, acquisitions and disposals Private equity and development finance Commercial projects and contracts Banking and finance structures, including complex and structured arrangements Restructuring and distressed situations
Rising stars
Rising stars with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
David Beynon is an experienced practitioner and has an established profile as a commercial, technology and intellectual property lawyer. David’s varied commercial practice includes advising on supply chain transactions and strategic outsourcing projects across a range of industries. His work also involves technology, e-commerce and the internet, including advising on software development, licensing and complex outsourcing solutions. David has a strong and established profile as a transactional intellectual property lawyer and frequently advises clients, across a number of sectors, on the existence, ownership, protection and exploitation of their intellectual property rights. Whilst David’s practice extends across a range of industries a significant part of his work involves MedTech, life sciences, healthcare and the creative industries and he has worked closely with several high-profile clients in those sectors. For example, in the past year, he has been advising Bio-Diagnostics Limited and Prima Dental Manufacturing Limited, on several strategically important projects. Such clients are frequently pioneers in their fields and, as such, have a high and demanding requirement for ongoing commercial and intellectual property advice. In addition, David’s practice also extends across other creative, development and technology focused industries. By way of illustration, David continues to work closely with Tessitura Network, Inc., a leading US based, global provider of innovative relationship management and ticketing platforms designed specifically for the arts, culture and entertainment sectors. David’s experience in private practice has been supplemented by time spent in industry on secondment (with payment services provider allpay Limited, telecoms giant EE Limited and student accommodation specialists Unite Group plc), which enables him to better understand his clients’ overreaching commercial objectives and deliver his legal advice in a commercially focused and pragmatic way.
Tom is a partner in our Corporate team. His expertise covers a broad spectrum of M&A, investment and commercial projects work, with a particular expertise in private equity and early-stage investments in high-growth companies. In addition to Tom’s continued support to the acquisition strategy of long-standing client Brickability Group plc over recent years, he manages a number of key client relationships. These include open banking experts OBConnect; Avantis Marine, an engineering business specialising in the conversion of critical assets and infrastructure; a fast-growth premium vodka brand and a number of exciting early-stage companies. Several deals on which Tom has advised have gone on to win awards at the Insider Wales Dealmaker Awards; a testament to his ability and the high-calibre transactions he handles. Tom won the "Emerging Dealmaker of the Year" award at the Wales Insider Dealmaker Awards in 2020. He is recognised as a Rising Star by The Legal 500, and as an Associate to Watch by Chambers and Partners. Expertise: Acquisitions and disposals Share option schemes Early-stage companies Private equity and venture capital
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Alex is an experienced Corporate Solicitor who specialises in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, equity investments and private equity transactions. Alex has worked in the corporate teams at a number of top tier law firms. He also has experience working as part of a legal advisory team, providing legal advice to the clients of a global corporate services provider. He has particular expertise in corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, equity investments and corporate finance and has acted for a variety of clients, from local owner-managed businesses, start up entities, through to private equity firms and global organisations.
Richard is a partner in the corporate and commercial teams based primarily in our Cardiff office and is a member of our Business Support & Insolvency Team. Richard deals with a broad range of corporate matters, including acquisitions, disposals, investments, shareholder and joint venture agreements and restructuring together with general corporate matters for a wide variety of clients including listed companies, venture-capital backed management teams, PLC’s, SME’s and owner-managed businesses. He is experienced in advising insolvency practitioners – typically administrators – in connection with their appointment and the eventual sale of insolvent businesses.
Jon heads up the largest dedicated dental M&A team of any law firm in the UK. He is a highly experienced corporate healthcare lawyer with a strong presence in the dental sector, where he advises practice-owners and groups on their acquisition strategies. He is a member of the National Association of Specialist Dental Accountants and Lawyers, the pre-eminent centre of excellence for accounting, tax and legal matters for dentists. He is recognised by The Legal 500 as a Next Generation Partner. Jon’s largest client is Portman Dental Care, the largest active acquirer of dental practices in the UK. As the lead adviser to Portman, he has advised on the successful acquisition of over 175 dental practices in England, Wales, Scotland, and the Isle of Man in the last seven years and has grown Portman to become Acuity’s largest client. Jon also advises Portman on commercial contracts, equity fundraises and regulatory issues. Expertise: Corporate deals and transactions Dental business structures (including partnerships, expense sharing arrangements and incorporations) Commercial contracts Banking and finance structures
Phil leads our London Corporate team. He has extensive experience of acting on a full range of corporate and commercial matters and frequently handles complex transactions, including business and share acquisitions, disposals and investments. Phil has acted for clients across a variety of sectors and has particular specialisms in technology/IP and healthcare (including dental). He has worked with several university spin-out companies. Phil has recently been active on behalf of clients in the PR/creative industries, and is the primary contact for leading logistics developer Verdion, as well as lead lawyer for award-winning medical device company Alesi Surgical Limited. Phil is currently recognised as a “Next Generation Partner” which is a testament to his impressive work on several high-profile deals, including the sale of Swansea City Football Club to an American consortium, the sale of digital signage and IPTV provider Tripleplay Services to US-based Uniguest, and the sale of Hereford Contract Canning to Rutland Partners. Phil is also a certified expert in data protection, having completed the EU General Data Protection Regulation Practitioner qualification awarded by the International Board for IT Governance Qualifications. Expertise: Corporate deals and transactions – mergers, acquisitions and disposals Commercial contracts – assignment and licensing of brand rights and intellectual property rights, SaaS arrangements, software licensing, distribution agreements and outsourcing arrangements Investments and equity arrangements Private equity-funded transactions and PE-backed buy and build strategies Corporate restructuring
Director - Christopher acts for businesses of all sizes operating in various sectors including charitable organisations. Christopher is able to advise on a wide range of corporate and commercial related matters
Leading individuals
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Steve is Chairman and founding partner at Acuity Law, with over 25 years of top-level experience both in the UK and internationally. A highly experienced corporate lawyer and dealmaker with a demonstrable track record of advising on numerous high-value M&A transactions, Stephen is widely recognised as a leader in his field. He is listed as a leading individual in The Legal 500 and has a Band 1 ranking from Chambers and Partners. With extensive experience advising on complex, often highly technical and intricate finance structures and partnerships between the private and public sectors, clients describe him as “very good, pragmatic, commercial and doesn’t mess around.” Steve has board-level experience of working with growth companies from early-stage funding through to exit and has a particular interest in technology-backed ventures. Expertise: Corporate deals and transactions including mergers, acquisitions and disposals Private equity-funded transactions and PE backed buy and build strategies Commercial projects and contracts including long-term contracts between the private and public sectors Banking and finance structures, including complex and structured arrangements Restructuring and distressed situations
Christian co-leads our Corporate team and regularly advises listed and private companies on acquisitions, disposals, mergers, IPOs, fundraisings and joint ventures, frequently with a cross-border aspect. His unrivalled track record in leading on multimillion-pound transactions across a range of sectors, most notably in financial services and renewables, means that he is highly regarded by his clients and peers alike. Over the years, Christian has advised on many landmark transactions and regularly acts opposite contemporaries at large, national and top-tier City law firms. His impressive client list reflects his status as a trusted lead adviser for heavyweight clients both within Welsh business and beyond, with prominent names including Admiral Group Plc and FTSE-listed Capita Plc among his portfolio of clients. Christian’s contribution to the deal market in Wales has been frequently recognised within the business community, where he was most recently nominated as Dealmaker of the Year in the 2022 Insider Wales Dealmakers Awards. He is ranked as a leading individual in Wales by The Legal 500. Christian champions the innovative use of new technology to improve deal efficiency and client experience. He has created a pioneering legal platform-based product, Document Assist, which enables companies to self-produce high-quality legal documents with easy access to real-time legal support. Expertise: Advising companies on employee ownership and the implementation of share schemes Corporate deals and transactions – mergers, acquisitions and disposals Private equity-funded transactions and PE-backed buy and build strategies Banking and finance structures, including complex and structured arrangements Restructuring and distressed situations
Partner: Geraint is a partner in the firm’s Corporate legal practice group, based in the Cardiff office but working with clients throughout the UK and internationally. His practice is focused on: Private M&A, with a particular focus on cross-border transactions Venture capital and private equity, acting for both investors and investees) Joint ventures Corporate advisory matters. Geraint has worked on transactions across a wide range of sectors during his career, and has developed significant expertise over the years acting for clients active in the technology/IT and high-value manufacturing and engineering sectors. Those clients range from entrepreneurs through to large corporations and funders, from both the UK and further afield. In particular, Geraint works regularly with clients from the United States, France, Germany and Spain.
James is a partner in the Corporate team in South Wales with extensive corporate transactional experience.James specialises in mergers, acquisitions and disposals, management buy-outs and buy-ins, private equity and venture capital transactions. He regularly advises clients on an array of general company law matters, such as corporate governance and compliance issues, reorganisations, joint venture and shareholder issues, including agreements and disputes.