Corporate & Commercial

Our Corporate and Commercial team specialises in equity related issues, frequently advises on complex cross border transactions and has been at the forefront of the development of company law and practice in the BVI for decades. The result is a significant depth of experience in advising on joint ventures, private equity transactions, listings and mergers and acquisitions. The department also advises on more general commercial matters. We have a substantial team of lawyers either extensively or exclusively involved in corporate and commercial work as well as a corporate partner and associates in each of our London, Cayman and Hong Kong offices and are regularly instructed by the world’s leading law firms on behalf of household names in industry and commerce.

Equity Capital Markets

The teams’ experience includes listings on the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, the Singapore Stock Exchange, Oslo Stock Exchange and more recently on a substantial number on AIM (The London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market). Examples include advising on the listing of Seabird Exploration Limited on the Oslo Stock Exchange , Renesola Ltd and Emerging Metals Limited on AIM.

Private Equity

Our experience includes advising on corporates and limited partnerships that have been used for substantial private equity transactions. Recent instances include the £500 million management buy out of Allied London Properties from Deutsche Bank, JER Partners and Others where Harneys acted for RBS Private Equity and the $1.6 billion acquisition of Tommy Hilfiger Corporation by Apax Partners where Harneys acted for Tommy Hilfiger.

Joint Ventures

Decades of experience and the suitability of the corporate vehicle for cross border joint venture deals means that our lawyers have unrivalled expertise in putting together such structures (whether as companies, limited partnerships, or other forms of joint enterprise). Perhaps the most noteworthy of these in recent times was the TNK-BP transaction. As well as advising on the key documentation such as shareholders agreements, we have the resources to provide specialist IP and commercial advice on the ancillary agreements, such as marketing, distribution, license and supply agreements.

Mergers & Acquisitions

From a share or asset purchase to a takeover of a listed company and everything in between, the team advises on mergers and acquisitions of all sorts. The flexible BVI merger regime, similar to Delaware law, has been successfully used time and time again to achieve the desired commercial results. In recent times such transactions included the merger and delisting of MIH Limited and MIH (BVI) Limited, the merger of United Service Technologies Limited and Supply Solutions Limited and the stock for stock merger of Tribeca Property Holdings and New Tribeca Limited.

General Corporate & Commercial

As a matter of course our lawyers advise on a wide range of BVI and Cayman corporate and commercial law issues.

Contact Leonard A. Birmingham or Jonathan Culshaw for more on Corporate & Commercial.