Scottish law firm Burness Paull LLP has been confirmed as the top legal corporate dealmaker in Scotland for the third year running.
The firm posted a record-breaking performance, advising on 296 publishable transactions with a total value of £42.8 billion.
The volume of deals was more than twice the number of its nearest rival in the latest Scottish Business Insider Magazine deals table (published 15 March 2018), while the cumulative value was more than six times greater.
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Peter Lawson, Head of Corporate, said: “It has been an exceptionally busy year as the economy has bounced back from a period of uncertainty, and the corporate transactions market in Scotland has reflected that.
“We have a fantastic group of very talented lawyers who love helping our clients with their deals. With the largest and most experienced corporate team in Scotland we are in a unique position to assist with complex deals and ensure our clients get the best possible advice and support for their businesses, both in the UK and internationally.
“Taking the top spot for three years in a row is testament to the consistent hard work of our entire team, but the latest numbers really underline the scale of their achievement over the past 12 months and the value they have delivered for clients.”
In its submission to the Business Insider deals table, Burness Paull included a wide range of completed transactions in fields such as finance, capital markets, oil & gas, technology, private equity and owner managed businesses. However, the figures do not include the substantial number of deals completed where clients requested confidentiality.
The firm has advised on significant deals across all sectors, including: The Weir Group’s £89m acquisition of KOP Surface Products; AIM-listed Savannah Petroleum’s US$125m secondary placing and reverse takeover involving the principal business and assets of Nigeria based Seven Energy International; the sale of Maven Capital backed Crawford Scientific; Sterling Resource’s US$163m sale of its UK operating subsidiary to Orange-Nassau Energie; 1825 Financial Planning (Standard Life Aberdeen’s financial planning business) on its on-going acquisition strategy; Canada-based Kbro Inc on its acquisition of Fishers laundry services group; and Endless LLP’s acquisition of Arran Aromatics.
Chris Gotts, Head of Corporate Finance, said: “The record-breaking number of deals and cumulative value have been driven by a number of economic factors. Private Equity has been particularly busy, with technology deals featuring prominently.
“Capital Markets activity has also been resurgent in Scotland, and as a firm we have been involved in all but one of the Scottish IPOs over the last year which we are very proud of.
“The financial sector has also been solid and we have seen a steady deal flow there, while the oil & gas sector has started to pick up again and the wider economy is starting to benefit from that.
“We are confident the next 12 months will continue to see a good flow of transactions coming through both in the Scottish and international markets, and we will be investing to grow and meet that demand to ensure we retain our market-leading position. Our success is our clients’ success and we are extremely grateful to them for entrusting us with their deals.”
