Shoosmiths' corporate division ranked number one
February, 2024 - Milton Keynes, England
Shoosmiths’ corporate team is celebrating a successful start to the year, having been named the most active law firm working in venture capital (VC) in the UK, according to Pitchbook’s 2023 global league tables.
In addition, the firm has been listed as the second most active in Europe. Corporate is a chosen market for Shoosmiths and this ranking underscores the firm’s ambition to excel in its chosen markets and be a leading upper mid-market law firm by 2030, supporting clients across the UK and internationally.
Demonstrating the firm’s strength across the value cycle of private capital, Shoosmiths’ private equity (PE) team moved up into a top five ranking, being named the fourth most active PE advisor in the UK – advising more than 60 transactions in 2023. Highlights include advising Five Arrows Principal Investments and Five Arrows Long-Term on its acquisition of N2Y from Providence Equity Partners. For mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals, Shoosmiths have been named the 25th most active law firm for M&A transactions advised on across Europe.
The impressive news follows Shoosmiths being named the most active merger and acquisitions (M&A) law firm in the UK (Experian MarketIQ). All of these results reaffirm Shoosmiths’ leading credentials as the go-to advisor in the mid-market, advising on upwards of 400 transactions a year across its corporate division.
Stephen Porter, head of Shoosmiths corporate division, commented: “It has been a fantastic start to the year, with the news that Shoosmiths advised on more M&A and VC transactions than any other UK law firm. Corporate is a chosen market for Shoosmiths and this only serves to indicate the firm is achieving against its ambitions, excelling in corporate as a chosen market.
"Despite 2023 being a more subdued investment marketplace for deal volumes, our corporate experts continued to demonstrate their industry leading knowledge for more international mid-market transactions than ever. I am incredibly grateful for the hard work and dedication of our teams and can’t wait to see what is in store for the rest of the year.”
It is the third consecutive year that Shoosmiths has been named the most active law firm working on VC deals in the UK, with highlights including advising BGF on leading a £19 million investment into Brompton Bicycle Limited and supporting Clean Growth Fund as co-lead investor in its Series B investment into Open Utility Ltd. Despite a turbulent market in the last twelve months, Shoosmiths has continued to support a roster of high profile VC clients, including Octopus Ventures, Triple Point Ventures and Mercia Asset Management.
The full Pitchbook 2023 global results can be viewed here.
