Francesca Ainsworth > Lewis Silkin > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Lewis Silkin Offices

Lewis Silkin
Arbor
255 Blackfriars Rd
LONDON
SE1 9AX
England
Visit website 020 7074 8000 020 7864 1200

Francesca Ainsworth

Francesca Ainsworth photo
+44 (0)20 7074 8278 [email protected] View profile View profile

Work Department

Corporate

Position

Legal Director

Career

Francesca is a Legal Director in the firm’s Corporate legal practice group and a member of their Retail, Hospitality & Leisure and Media & Entertainment sector focus groups.

Francesca is Strategy Lead for Lewis Silkin’s network for decision makers of luxury, lifestyle and premium brand businesses – The Collective. Francesca advises clients on the full spectrum of corporate issues across a broad range of sectors, but specialises in the creative industries (with a particular interest in luxury, digital, publishing and advertising).

Corporate
Francesca joined Lewis Silkin in 2017 from a Magic Circle firm, where she trained and spent three years as an Associate (including six months in Hong Kong). She advises companies and individuals on corporate transactions (in the UK and overseas) and corporate governance issues.

Her experience covers the full breadth of corporate advisory and transactional work. This includes advising business owners and investors through debt and equity funding and structuring, internal reorganisations and incentive arrangements, and private M&A.

The Collective by Lewis Silkin
Francesca is Strategy Lead for The Collective by Lewis Silkin – a network for decision makers of luxury, lifestyle and premium brand businesses. The Collective by Lewis Silkin helps to drive commercial understanding and foster valuable relationships. Bringing together leading individuals and insights, they talk about the issues that matter and help their clients and contacts overcome them.

 

Lawyer Rankings

London > Corporate and commercial > M&A: Smaller Deals, £10m-£100m

Described as having ‘the human touch of boutique with the power of enterprise’, the corporate M&A practice at Lewis Silkin strikes the balance between personalised services and strong transactional capabilities. The group is proficient in complex cross-border M&A deals, particularly in the technology, media and entertainment, and advertising and marketing sectors. Paul Rajput leads the team and has a breadth of expertise which covers both the buy and sell side of mergers and acquisitions, as well as venture and private equity capital and joint ventures. Rajput concentrates on assisting clients from the advertising and marketing and media and entertainment sectors. Chair of the firm Jo Evans is recognised for her extensive experience advising clients on M&A transactions, growth plans, and exit strategies. Evans is predominantly instructed by advertising, gaming, and communications businesses. Cross-border transaction specialist Geraint Tilsley is highly knowledgeable of the technology, IT, manufacturing, and engineering sectors, and focuses on supporting French and US companies on mergers and acquisitions. Tilsley is also adept in the private equity and venture capital spaces, leading on investments and portfolio work. The team also benefits from the expertise of Gavin McNaughton – who focuses on M&A, joint ventures, and restructuring – and Simon Entwistle – who has strengths in M&A, joint ventures, and IP matters. Other key names in the department include Sam Pennington, Sadiq Tajbhai, and Francesca Ainsworth. Chris Hallinan joined the team in July 2023 from Addleshaw Goddard.

Lawyer Rankings

Top Tier Firm Rankings

Firm Rankings