Corporate From Microsoft Corporation, Daily Mail Group to CBPE Capital, our Corporate Group acts on cross-border transactions for leading multinational organisations
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Your favourite memories so far? Working in the Corporate team has provided a vast array of memorable moments which include hosting in-person negotiations in Kazakhstan and Athens, negotiating the proposed acquisition of a Premier League Football Club and assisting a client to dispose of a UK hotel portfolio after working on the original acquisition. I do remember being provided with the opportunity to travel to New York and Chicago, pitching to a client with our Global Managing Partner. The fact that our Global Managing Partner was so supportive and willing to give his time to support the pitch was an invaluable and inspirational experience and represents a strong message about the culture of Reed Smith globally. How would you describe your group? The polar opposite of hierarchical. What I have always enjoyed about our Group is that everyone works as a team and as a single unit. Partners always encourage you to raise questions with an open door ethos. In addition, the Group is extremely entrepreneurial and supportive if you have an idea or opportunity you wish to explore. By way of example, the Partners supported an associates only client event at Namco London whereby we invited and hosted our junior contacts at firm clients to facilitate business development at all levels. It was a great evening other than one person splitting his trousers whilst exiting the dodgems!
across a number of industry sectors. Working across all forms of mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, private equity transactions and commercial arrangements, the Group focuses on the commercial strategies and objectives of the client to develop long lasting relationships. Lawyers use their in-depth industry specific, local and business practice knowledge to work with clients throughout the life cycle of a business or investment, planning ahead for the future. Graduates in this Group will work with a wide variety of businesses from start-ups to some of the most sophisticated multinational organisations, gaining first- hand experience of high profile strategic decision making and corporate transactions.
Favourite memories One of the great things about working in a Corporate team is that we have a number of deal completions/ closings. Whilst the build-up can be stressful, being able to attend a signing meeting and seeing your clients through the process is really rewarding. Whilst not necessarily glamorous, setting up an organised closing meeting and receiving compliments from experienced clients is a great feeling. At the beginning of my career as an associate I worked on a number of deals which closed within a two week period – closing deals every few days was the closest I have been to feeling like Harvey Specter (and the celebrations to mark the end of each of these deal definitely made the hard work worth it!). Describe your group The Corporate Group is one of the friendliest teams I have had the pleasure of working in. The lawyers within the team are hardworking and at the top of their game but they are always willing to take the time to explain points and to teach – this has been invaluable to my growth and development as a lawyer. The open-door policy and the keenness to hear different views have meant that I have always been able to feel like I am contributing to the deals I am working on and that my opinions are worth raising. Most interesting matter One of the reasons I joined Reed Smith was for its great Entertainment & Media practice, which is one of the best in the country. I have been lucky enough to be seconded to two companies operating in this space. Upon my return, I have done a number of deals within this space, one of which being the acquisition by ITV plc of the TV production company, World Productions, which is behind some of the biggest shows on TV at the moment (Line of Duty, Bodyguard and Save Me, to name a few). From the due diligence to negotiating the transaction documents it was a really interesting deal to work on, especially as you read about the contracts with the stars of the shows!
Daryl Cue Senior Associate
Can you tell us about the most interesting matter you have worked on to date? I have always enjoyed watching Dragon’s Den. In 2017, we were instructed by Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones CBE on the sale of Red Letter Days to Smartbox Group, the owner of Buyagift. Working with the clients was an amazing experience and I continue to provide regular advice to Peter’s in-house legal team and will be joining Peter’s upcoming charity clay pigeon shooting event.
Ravi Pattani Associate – Corporate
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