Corporate Law

Overview

Everything That You Need To Know

Corporate Law

Our corporate team will advise you at every stage of a business life cycle, all the way from start-up through to M&A, management transactions, development funding, restructuring, capital reductions and private equity funding.

We advise a full range of clients from owner-managed business, SME's, management teams, large corporates and private equity funds.

Our expertise

Our corporate partners are all highly experienced lawyers that have strong backgrounds in corporate transactions having previously worked at large international law firms. We are known for delivering decisive, high quality technical and commercial advice with “no stuffiness”. Our approach is friendly and collaborative, recognizing that no matter how big or small, any corporate transaction is critical to you and your business.

The team at CG Professional are known for excellent client service and responsiveness. We pride ourselves on delivering our services by a dedicated and experienced team that will provide a continuous and seamless service. We are committed to working with you to achieve your aims. We will gain a thorough understanding of your business and the objectives that are important to you. Our services are always Partner led which means you will always deal with the person you have the relationship with and receive a hands-on level of engagement.

Our clients range from start-ups, individual founders and shareholders of owner managed businesses to SMEs and large multinational companies. Our team perform a close advisory function to general counsel and management teams and also act for a number of private equity funds on both domestic and cross-border transactions.

Your Corporate Team

We have a team of high quality lawyers and advisors, all experts in their field. We work collaboratively and flexibly, in an engaging and unrivalled working environment which puts our client’s needs first.

Lawyers who can help the Company to work with all shareholders

We have relevant and recent experience of working with diverse groups of shareholders and stakeholders who may have a differing appetite for risk and understanding of a corporate sale process. Our pragmatic, down to earth approach means that issues are addressed head on and resolved quickly. We are approachable, easy to talk to and will be committed to protecting your position and getting a good result for you in your key transaction documents while not being ‘over lawyerly’.

Strength in depth with clear partner engagement

Our services are always Partner led and our hourly rates mean that you’ll deal with the people you have the relationship with and those same people will be the ones that do the majority of the work. Our clients receive a hands-on level of engagement, where we’ll head up all deal negotiations and ensure you are kept up-to-date regularly and that a collaborative approach is taken through the transaction process and with a focus on excellent service.

M&A expertise

The team has a considerable experience in mergers and acquisitions. Our team comprises of city firm lawyers with a wealth of experience and can deal with any sort of buyer and buyer’s lawyers on the other side be it private equity or trade sale, UK, US or other overseas buyer. This gives us depth of knowledge when dealing with deals in this space which translates into quick, intuitive and effective advice for you.

Upfront and transparent pricing

We want to win work on the ability to service our clients to the best possible levels and demonstrate ourselves with the pragmatic and commercial advice. We recognise however that sometimes cost is a factor. Our innovative approach to giving clients value for money and being competitive in our pricing has kept us ahead our competitors at city and national firms. Great value is a phrase CG’s clients frequently use about our services, but we never seek to low-ball or buy work and our philosophy is one of openness and flexibility.

How we can help you

Our Commercial Team covers the key commercial legal areas businesses navigate on a daily basis, including:

Mergers and acquisitions

All of our corporate partners are highly experienced in project managing and negotiating both complex domestic and cross-border M & A transactions and have acted on all sides of a transaction.
We provide clear, decisive and pragmatic advice to our clients and understand the importance of a timely and commercial approach. We have acted for a broad range of clients in various sectors.
We have supported many clients on their corporate growth journeys to exit, helping them to deliver their strategic objectives and performing a long-term advisory role.
Our extensive experience in this area means that we can streamline the M&A process for our clients and deliver as seamless and as smooth a transaction as possible.

Business sales

We have many years of experience advising owners of businesses on exit strategies and business sales. A sale of a business interest can take various forms and structures and can include a sale of shares or assets in a company, a sale of part of the business or a minority interest or a demerger.
Here at CG, we focus on our client's objectives and tailor our multi-disciplinary expertise to deliver their expectations.

Employee Ownership Trusts

It is becoming increasingly popular for business owners to sell their shares to an Employee Ownership Trust ("EOT") as opposed to selling them to a third-party buyer. An EOT is a trust which is set up for the benefit of a business' employees.
We have significant experience in advising business owners on the sale of their shares to EOTs including where external funding is in place. We can help you to explore whether this is a suitable option for your business.
Where there is an appropriate management structure in place it could allow you to sell your shares whilst maintaining the culture and ethos of your business and taking advantage of certain tax benefits, perhaps whilst even continuing to be involved in the business as a minority shareholder.

Corporate reorganisations

Our corporate partners have decades of extensive experience in handling both domestic and cross-border corporate reorganisations.
This includes experience in handling capital reductions, demergers, intra-group transfers, share buybacks, share for share exchanges and re-financing matters.

Private equity

At CG, we have a wealth of experience in private equity transactions and are known for delivering commercial advice with "no stuffiness". We have a results-oriented approach where we focus on issues which are material to your objectives.
All of our corporate partners have previously worked at large international law firms and have the knowledge and depth of experience required to advise on private equity investments, including management buy-outs and management buy-ins, early-stage seed investment, venture capital investment and debt for equity restructurings.

Joint Ventures and shareholder arrangements

We would always advise that whenever you go into business with another person or business you ensure that the paperwork is in place as soon as possible. This will allow you to make sure everyone knows where they stand and protect your interests.
In the case of a company, it is the company's articles of association and the shareholders' agreement which governs the relationship between the business owners. Our dedicated and experienced team have an efficient process in place to draft bespoke articles of association and joint venture documentation such as joint venture agreements, shareholders' agreements and partnership agreements.
Our documentation typically covers a broad range of issues such as pre-emption rights, restrictions on the transfer of shares, minority protections and what should happen if a dispute were to arise.

Corporate governance and advisory services

Businesses naturally face all manner of legal issues in their day-to-day operations. Many of our clients have told us how reassuring they find it knowing that such issues can be addressed quickly and proportionately by reaching out to us. We take pride in our responsiveness and in being mindful of any commercial considerations in play when we advise you.
We are a commercial firm and by working closely with our colleagues in our other departments we able to provide you with a full and well-rounded service throughout your business' life cycle.