John has extensive experience in the Corporate legal sector, particularly in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, private equity/venture capital investments and general company law, shareholder and governance matters. He regularly acts for both buyers and sellers of companies, equity investors (institutional and private) and investee companies together with acting for parties in respect of employee ownership trusts. John also advises inward investors into Northern Ireland on the legal issues around set up, engagement with stakeholders (including Invest Northern Ireland) and operators. He is qualified to act in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and England & Wales.
John was awarded the Insider Dealmaker of the Year at the Northern Ireland Insider Dealmaker Awards 2020 and is a former winner of the Young Dealmaker of the Year award.
“John is technically extremely strong but he also understands the commerciality of the transaction.” Chambers UK
“John is very much a dealmaker; he is very good at delivering for his clients.” Chambers UK
“John is a great communicator and he solves complex legal issues with his in-depth knowledge of the market.” Chambers UK
HIGHLIGHTS
Equity transactions
John has advised both investors and investee companies including:
- MML Growth Capital on its investments into Lowe Refrigeration, Ashdale Care, NWP.
- BGF on its investments into Bob & Berts, Uform and Decora Blinds.
- Foresight on its investment into the Kingsbridge Group and Hospital Services Limited.
- Fusion Antibodies plc on numerous funding rounds and on its subsequent admission to AIM.
- Weev.ie on the investment into it by Octopus Ventures.
- The management of Vyta Secure in respect of the investment into it by MML Growth Capital.
- The management of Elite Electronics in respect of the investment by Lonsdale Capital.
- Numerous companies including Plotbox, B-Secur, 3DEO, OBBI Solutions, AuditComply Limited on their venture capital investment rounds.
Mergers and Acquisitions
John has advised on sales and acquisitions including:
- The shareholders of CattleEye on its sale to GEA.
- The shareholders of MCE Public Relations on its sale to Cavendish Consulting.
- The shareholders of FPM accountants on its merger with AAB, the private equity backed business services group.
- The shareholders of Made to Engage on its sale to UNRVLD.
- B4B Renewables in respect of the purchase of a majority interest in Daly Renewables.
- Staffline Group plc in respect of numerous acquisitions in Ireland including of Grafton Recruitment.
- The shareholders of Tascomi Ltd on its sale to Idox plc.
- The shareholders of Delta Print and Packaging on its sale to Huhtamaki, the Finnish list packaging company.
- Astec Industries, Inc on its acquisition of Telestack Limited.
- A number of different parties on sales/acquisitions of pharmacies, opticians, dentist practices and other service providers.
General advisory
John has advised:
- Numerous companies on group restructures.
- Invest Northern Ireland on a wide range of legal matters including letters of offer and other contractual matters.
- Aflac Inc, Cygilant, HighRoads and several other FDI companies on set up and ongoing work in Northern Ireland.
