Pinsent Masons’ corporate specialists in Scotland have started 2023 on the front foot after arguably the legal firm’s best year for transactional activity.
The stand-out deal was Ithaca Energy’s £2.5 billion listing on the London Stock Exchange’s main market in November.
Led by Pinsent’s Glasgow-based global head of oil and gas, Rosalie Chadwick, it was the largest UK flotation of 2022.
Springfield expansion among last year’s big deals
Other noteworthy deals Pinsent advised on last year included Springfield Properties’ £46 million acquisition of the housebuilding business of Mactaggart & Mickel Group.
The international law firm was also at the heart of the sale of 80% of North Ayrshire-based steelworks fabricator J&D Pierce to Swedish group Storskogen.
In commercial property deals, Pinsent partner Paul Connolly was at the centre of the largest single Scottish office transaction of 2022.
He advised long-term client HFD Group on the disposal of 177 Bothwell Street in Glasgow to Spanish investor Pontegadea in a deal estimated to be worth about £215 million.
Also in 2022, Pinsent client Scottish Equity Partners made the first investment from its new fund (Fund VI), taking a significant minority share in Cambridgeshire drug discovery and design software specialist Cresset.
On the technology front, Pinsent continued to act for Glasgow-headquartered cloud computing firm iomart and software specialist Idox on their mergers and acquisitions.
Barry McCaig, partner and head of corporate, Scotland, Pinsent, said: “In 2022, we experienced one of our business periods transaction-wise for many years, with our corporate teams in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen advising on deals worth billions of pounds in the oil and gas, renewables, housebuilding, industrial, commercial property, fintech and technology sectors.
Healthy start to 2023
“There were many Scottish success stories to celebrate.
“Despite the political and economic turmoil that businesses of all shapes and sizes had to navigate in 2022, it was encouraging that deals continued to get over the line.”
That should continue in 2023, Mr McCaig said, adding the year started with a good pipeline of transactions, despite market uncertainty and unease about interest rates.
There were many Scottish success stories to celebrate.”
Barry McCaig, partner and head of corporate, Scotland, Pinsent Masons
He added: “Although we’ve seen a bit of contraction in the debt markets, there is still a lot of liquidity in the market.
“Money is available for the right deals but there may need to be some readjustment of sell-side expectations.”
There should be more focus on the reconfiguration of deals, and a greater emphasis on earn-outs and innovative consideration structures, Mr McCaig said.
Citing the Ithaca listing as a good example of a “buy-and-build” strategy involving well-thought-out transformational deals to position the energy firm as one of the leading operators in the North Sea, Mr McCaig said it showed institutional investors were coming back into oil and gas and that capital markets were “selectively open” for quality businesses.
‘Good appetite’ for oil and gas
He continued: “The oil price may cool a little in 2023 but it will stay comparatively high, compared to what we have experienced in the last five years, which will encourage deal activity.
“There also remains a good appetite to invest in oil and gas, with a broader range of funds coming back into the fold.”
We were overwhelmed at last night's #BritishLegalAwards. As their 'most celebrated law firm' we scooped 3 of the prestigious awards.
🏆Litigation & Dispute Resolution Team of the Year (Large Sized Firm),
🏆TMT Team of the Year
🏆M&A Team of the Year (Medium Deal – Less than £1bn) pic.twitter.com/2kCVfXN2OC— Pinsent Masons (@Pinsent_Masons) November 24, 2022
Mr McCaig said this was due to three factors: the growing importance of energy security; industry addressing environmental, social and governance concerns; and potential returns being “much more positive last year, compared to many other sectors”.
In renewable energy, Pinsent acted for several successful bidders on the ScotWind offshore wind leasing round.
These companies are now engaged in long term mandates on the consenting, procurement and build-out of ScotWind projects.
Meanwhile, Pinsent also advised Buccleuch Estates on the sale of the Glenmuckloch pumped storage hydro scheme, near Kirkconnel in south-west Scotland, to an infrastructure investor.
This will be the first new-build pumped hydro scheme in 30 years in the UK.
Pinsent has Scottish offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
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