As one of only a few truly European practices with a dedicated venture capital and private equity group and the only one with a presence in Silicon Valley - the home of tech investing - Osborne Clarke is at the very heart of any developments in this market. Our work is often international in nature and our network of offices enables us to provide comprehensive advice on cross-border transactions. We have acted on over 120 venture capital and private equity deals in the past 12 months, with a total value in excess of £1.5 billion.

Venture capital

We represent both venture capital funds (whether investment trusts, venture capital trusts, limited partnerships or other vehicles) and companies seeking investment, as well as assisting our investor clients with managing and realising investments in their portfolio. We have vast experience of seed, early stage and development capital funding, particularly in the technology and life sciences fields.

Commercial due diligence of investment opportunities is undertaken by an experienced specialist team drawn from our technology, life sciences and other experts and is project managed to provide commercial, timely and insightful feedback on an exception basis. Clients value our combination of technical expertise, experience and our practical approach, resulting in us acting on some of the most high profile venture capital investments of recent years.

Private Equity

Working closely with our Acquisition Finance and Tax groups, our dedicated Private Equity group has recognised expertise in mid-value MBOs, MBIs, IBOs, LBOs, "public to privates", secondary buy-outs, "buy and build" programmes and disposals for private equity funds and management teams. Ranked as one of the 'Top 10 European legal advisers' to equity houses, the group advises over 20 private equity and VC funds.

Industry understanding is fundamental to the group. As a result, we work closely with our in-house industry sector specialists on all private equity transactions to ensure we share relevant market knowledge and business intelligence. The team is supported by a full range of specialists in other areas (not least tax, commercial, pensions, employment, banking and property litigation), enabling them to provide full advice on transactions from tax planning and structuring, to comprehensive legal due diligence. We also provide ongoing corporate and commercial advice to the buy-out/investment vehicle following completion of transactions.

Funds - Formation and Management

In addition, the group advises on fund formation, structuring (including for tax efficiency and regulatory compliance) and management, and has worked on a number of fund raisings in the past 12 months. These were not only within private equity, but also in the fields of media, property and technology and used a variety of UK and offshore structures, including limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, venture capital trusts, unit trusts and open-ended investment companies.

Examples of our recent experience include:

acting for 3i Group plc on its equity investment for the £555m acquisition of NCP

advising management and Newco on the £27.2m management buy-out of Candu Entertainment Limited

acting for LDC and Pro-Bel Holdings Limited on the acquisition of Vistek Electronics

Greg Leyshon
t +44 (0)118 925 2014
greg.leyshon@osborneclarke.com