Law firm in £5bn of deals in last year

A FLURRY of post-Brexit deals have helped the Birmingham office of law firm Mills & Reeve complete more than £5 billion of transactions in the past 12 months.

The successful year for the corporate team saw it work on more than 200 transactions including the sale of Giraffe restaurants by Tesco to Ranjit Boparan, owner of Birminghambased poultry group 2 Sisters.

The period was capped off by six post-Brexit deals, with the firm saying UK and European businesses looking to increase their presence in each others’ marketplaces ahead of leaving the European Union was the driving force behind £100 million worth of deals in July.

Half of the deals completed involved UK businesses strengthening commercial ties with firms in France and Belgium.

Peter McLintock, corporate partner at Mills & Reeve, said: “The decrease in activity created by the uncertainty in the lead-up to the referendum, and then in the weeks afterwards, appears to be shaking out.

“There was an inevitable pause, a collective breath held and a re-evaluation of whether planned deals still made sense.

“However, as we’ve experienced in July, many deals still stack up despite the referendum result. Although there is a cooling down in activity, there is still a real opportunity out there – companies in Europe looking to keep and grow a foothold in the UK before the country leaves the EU, coupled with a competitive pound, are making UK businesses attractive at the moment.”

Meanwhile, the group has seen an 11 per cent growth in the last year having completed several high-profile national and international corporate transactions for significant new clients.

Kevin Lowe, head of corporate, added: “While there has been some uncertainty recently with the EU referendum result, the flow of deals within the team remains strong into the financial year.”