United Kingdom - Scotland • Corporate and commercial

Brodies LLP

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With offices in key business hubs including Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, the corporate and commercial team at Brodies LLP offers expertise across the full range of corporate matters, advising the most prominent private and public companies and high-net-worth individuals in the market. Noted for a particular strength in cross-border M&A, the team is led by the highly experienced Neil Burgess, who has a phenomenal track record across multiple sectors including manufacturing and engineering, food and drink and renewable energy. Shuna Stirling brings specialist expertise in corporate real estate matters, while William Mcintosh's practice focuses heavily on the US and complex M&A mandates in particular. David Lightbody, is highly sought after for his knowledge of investments, restructurings and company law, senior associate Paul Breen is adept at handling bespoke commercial contracts and company regulatory matters.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'Eric Galbraith is excellent in the negotiation process - his team is always very responsive and drafting spot on from discussions.'

  • ‘Neil Burgess is a real details person. He is always composed and calm, even amidst the heat of tense corporate deal discussions. He misses nothing, and his high level of intellect is clear when dealing with complex legal or contractual points.’

  • ‘Paul Breen is a great performer - he's clever, organised and provides clients with confidence that he is covering all bases. He also helps steer clients around the points that might be worth conceding to help focus on the key issues of contention, which helps to get deals over the line.’

  • 'We worked closely with Derek Stroud and Alasdair Dunn on a complex and intense sales process. They were excellent to work with, provided clear and concise guidance and worked incredibly hard under tight deadlines to get our transaction over the line.'

  • ‘A strong team that provides responsive and clear advice together with a quick understanding of the challenges the client has.’

  • ‘The team are very thorough and have a great eye for detail.’

  • ‘Brodies have a depth of resource, with expert advisors with sector-specific market, commercial and legal expertise across the partner level, ably supported by proactive associates with strong work ethics and good, polished client relationship and organisational skills.’

  • ‘David Lightbody is the epitome of calm, cool and collected in all dealings and matters of legal advice, regardless of the intensity of external pressures or commercial consequences of any given situation.’

Key clients

  • Accel-KKR
  • Scottish Enterprise
  • Aggreko
  • Edrington
  • ACS Clothing Limited
  • Last Mile Infrastructure Group
  • Scottish Equity Partners
  • Old College Capital
  • Flag Communication Limited
  • Katjes Greenfood
  • Borderlink Broadband
  • Mirador Analytics
  • Orbital Marine Power
  • Rewards4 Group
  • DC Thomson
  • Scottish National Investment Bank
  • Exscientia Limited
  • AGS Airports Limited

Work highlights

  • Acted for Katjes Greenfood on its acquisition of Genius Foods, the UK market leader in gluten-free ready-to-eat bakery products.
  • Advised Accel-KKR in a significant capital investment acquiring the entire share capital of Singletrack Systems Limited, the capital markets client engagement and analytics expert.
  • Advised Orbital Marine Power on its public offer and issue of secured debentures. Orbital is a renewable energy company focussed on the development and global deployment of the world's most powerful tidal turbine. The fundraise was supported by a £4m facility provided by the Scottish National Investment Bank.

Lawyers

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.

Neil Burgess

Neil Burgess

Hall of fameBrodies LLP

Neil leads the Corporate and Commercial practice at Brodies and is a partner in the corporate team. He has extensive UK and international experience. His practice covers a broad spectrum of corporate and commercial transactions, both domestic and cross-border, advising a range of multinational and national companies and institutions. He advises on M&A, private equity investments, MBOs and MBIs, joint ventures, commercial contracts, corporate governance and restructuring. He regularly advises clients on matters of a key strategic nature, running high value, complex transactions and co-ordinating multi-disciplinary legal teams, and providing pragmatic and commercial advice. Neil has particular expertise in M&A and private equity, with a strong focus on growth capital and private equity clients and transactions, and cross-border and domestic M&A. His experience spans a number of sectors, including manufacturing and engineering, facilities management, food and drink, technology and energy.

Rising stars

Leading individuals

Shuna Stirling

Brodies LLP

Shuna is a partner in Brodies corporate team. She is a recognised expert in corporate law, ranked in both Chambers and Legal 500.Shuna has 25 years’ experience advising on acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures, investments, MBOs and corporate restructuring work. She also provides general commercial and corporate governance advice to a broad range of Scottish, national and international clients ranging from private individuals/owner managed businesses and SMEs to some of the UK’s largest corporates and multi-national organisations.In addition, Shuna is known in the marketplace as a “go to” for corporate real estate work, advising on the corporate aspects of investing in real estate through a variety of different corporate wrappers, both onshore and offshore.Sectors focuses include food and drink, healthcare, real estate, energy, IEM and motoring.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Neil Burgess

Other key lawyers

Shuna Stirling, William McIntosh, David Lightbody, Paul Breen, Derek Stroud, Alasdair Dunn, Eric Galbraith