Private equity

UCB Pharma

Advised this multinational pharmaceutical company on numerous strategic investments in early stage companies and university spin-outs.

Titan Cement

Advised this cement and building materials producer listed on the Athens Stock Exchange in respect of a €50 million equity investment by International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Titan's operations in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo, on the equity and debt financing by IFC and EBRD of a €147 million greenfield cement plant in Albania and subsequent €27 million follow-on investment.

Acacia Pharma Limited

Advised this pharmaceutical company specialising in the development of drugs for cancer and post-operative supportive care on its Series A, B and C investment rounds, with cornerstone investments from Gilde, Novo, Lundbeck and Fidelity Biosciences (F-Prime).

Quadrant Technologies Limited

Advised the management on the buy-out from Elan Corporation, plc of the UK-based drug delivery business Elan Drug Delivery Limited.

Jane Shepherdson 

Advised Jane and the incoming management team on their equity investment in clothing retailer Whistles.

Arakis Limited 

Advised on a £29 million private funding round.

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Equity capital markets

e-therapeutics

Advised e-therapeutics plc on its £22.5 million fundraise. Based in Oxford, UK, e-therapeutics aims to transform the drug discovery process by leveraging its computational power and biological expertise to accelerate the path to identifying and developing effective therapies. 

Acacia Pharma Group plc

Advised Acacia Pharma on its €190 million IPO on Euronext Brussels.

William Hill plc

Advised on its £1.2 billion funding proposals, comprising new and existing bank facilities of £840 million and a £350 million rights issue underwritten by Citi, RBS Hoare Govett and Barclays.

William Hill plc 

Advised on a £375 million 2 for 9 rights issue, underwritten by Citi, Investec and Barclays.

Imperial College London of Science, Technology and Medicine as a major shareholder of Imperial Innovations Group plc (Innovations) 

Advised on a £140 million rights issue and issue of warrants by Innovations, sponsored by JP Morgan Cazenove.

CPP Group plc

Advised on its main market London IPO including a global offer of £30 million new shares, underwritten by JP Morgan Cazenove and UBS.

Cambian Group plc 

Advised on its main market London IPO, underwritten by JP Morgan Cazenove.

NM Rothschild, RBS Hoare Govett and Oriel Securities as the sponsor and underwriters 

Advised on a £114 million placing and rights issue by Northgate plc.

NM Rothschild, Oriel Securities and KBC Peel Hunt as the sponsor and underwriters 

Advised on a £105 million rights issue by Speedy Hire Plc.

NM Rothschild, JP Morgan Cazenove and Peel Hunt as the sponsor and joint bookrunners 

Advised on a Class 2 acquisition and related placing by Vectura plc.

Other IPOs include Quadrant Healthcare, Ark Therapeutics, Inion Oy, RHM, PV Crystalox Solar, Silverjet and Anker.

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Public and private M&A

Snap-on Inc.

Advised on multiple share and asset acquisitions in both the UK and across Europe.

William Hill plc 

Advised on the £485 million recommended offer for Sportingbet, by way of joint consortium bid by William Hill and GVC, together with related acquisition of Spanish assets.

URS Corporation (NYSE-listed) 

Advised on its £161 million offer for Scott Wilson Group plc.

Ark Therapeutics 

Advised on a number of bid approaches, and formal sale process.

Other public takeovers include NeuTec Pharma, Quadrant Healthcare, Enodis, RHM, Debenhams, QXL Ricardo, Linx and Carluccio's.

Snap-on Inc.

Advised Snap-on on its $72 million acquisition of Norbar Torque Tools, and separately its acquisition of BTC Global.

Bell Pottinger (in administration)

Acted for BDO LLP as administrators on the sale of both the Far East and Middle East businesses of Bell Pottinger (in administration).

Silence Therapeutics plc

Advised on its acquisition of Palo Alto-based Intradigm Corporation, comprising a reverse takeover under the AiM Rules with a Rule 9 whitewash together with a £15 million equity fundraising through a placing and subscription to corporate investors and major pharmaceutical companies.

Ark Therapeutics 

Advised on the disposal of its operating business to a vehicle financed by Wolbern Private Equity.

Healthcare at Home

Advised its management and certain shareholders on the disposal of the Healthcare at Home Group to Hutton Collins, and subsequent disposal to Vitruvian Partners' vehicle Halcyon Acquisitions.

Ark Therapeutics

Advised on the sale of its woundcare products division to Crawford Healthcare.

Arakis Limited and its shareholders

Advised on the acquisition of Arakis by Sosei Co. Ltd., a leading Japanese biopharmaceutical company.

Quadrant Technologies Limited

Advised the vendors on its £46.7 million sale to ML Laboratories plc.

Mölnlycke Health Care

Advised on their twin track exit, a process which concluded in the sale of Mölnlycke to Investor AB and Morgan Stanley Principal Investment for €2.85 billion.

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Life sciences

e-therapeutics 

Advised e-therapeutics plc on its £22.5 million fundraise. Based in Oxford, UK, e-therapeutics aims to transform the drug discovery process by leveraging its computational power and biological expertise to accelerate the path to identifying and developing effective therapies. 

Acacia Pharma

Advised this pharmaceutical company specialising in the development of drugs for cancer and post-operative supportive care on its Series A, B and C investment rounds to fund development of its two lead products and eventually its €190 million IPO and listing on Euronext Brussels.

Silence Therapeutics plc 

Advised on its acquisition by way of reverse takeover of Palo Alto-based Intradigm Corporation, and the associated £15 million equity fundraising through a placing, to create a leading company in the field of RNA interference (RNAi).

Ark Therapeutics Group plc 

Advised on its acquisition of Helsinki-based Lymphatix Oy giving Ark Therapeutics royalty-free exploitation rights to the vascular endothelial growth factor genes known as VEGF-D and VEGF-C, complementing its existing portfolio of VEGF-based programmes.

Ark Therapeutics Group plc 

Advised in relation to two placings and open offers of shares raising, respectively, £37.4 million and £27.1 million, and on its original flotation on the London Stock Exchange.

NeuTec Pharma Plc

Advised on its £305.1 million recommended cash takeover by Novartis.

SR Pharma plc

Advised on its £8.3 million placing of new shares with institutional investors and the £1.7 million equity investment in the company by Nasdaq-listed biotech company Introgen Therapeutics Inc., following its acquisition of Atugen AG.

Arakis Limited and its shareholders 

Advised on the acquisition of Arakis by Sosei Co. Ltd., a leading Japanese biopharmaceutical company, creating a global biopharmaceutical company with an implied value of £278 million – and previously on its £29 million third funding round.

Quadrant Technologies Limited

Advised the vendors on its £46.7 million sale to ML Laboratories plc.

Cambridge Antibody Technology plc 

Advised in connection with a £75 million subscription by AstraZeneca of a 19.9 per cent equity stake.

Inion Oy, Quadrant Healthcare and Ark Therapeutics

Advised on their London Stock Exchange Listings.

Quadrant Technologies Limited 

Advised on its acquisition from Elan Corporation, plc of the UK-based drug delivery business Elan Drug Delivery Limited (EDD-UK).

NM Rothschild, JP Morgan Cazenove and Peel Hunt as the sponsor and joint bookrunners on a Class 2 acquisition and related placing by Vectura plc.

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Healthcare

Healthcare at Home and its selling shareholders

Advised on the sale of the company to Hutton Collins and subsequent sale to Vitruvian. Healthcare at Home is the market leader in the provision of complex home healthcare services in the UK.

Mölnlycke Health Care

Advised on their ‘twin trak’ exit, a process which concluded in the sale of Mölnlycke to Investor AB and Morgan Stanley Principal Investment for €2.85 billion.

Cambian Group

Advised this  leading provider of specialist behavioural health services for children and adults in the UK, on its main market London IPO.

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