Edward Dawes

Practice Areas

Edward is a corporate solicitor with over 30 years’ experience advising companies on how to effectively plan and execute a variety of corporate transactions. Throughout his career, Edward has worked on many high-value acquisitions, disposals, reorganisations, mergers and takeovers, with many involving cross-border issues and significant commercial aspects. He also assists companies with, or seeking, a stock market listing, with UK equity market fundraisings and regulatory compliance.

Edward acts across all industries but has extensive experience in advising those in the retail, hospitality, and food and beverage sectors as well as manufacturing businesses.

Edward has been a contributing editor to Sweet & Maxwell’s Company Directors: Law and Liability for over a decade, and assisted with the development and publication of the CBI’s Practical Guide to Corporate Governance.

Career

Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2019, Edward worked at the following firms:

- Squire Patton Boggs

- Wragge & Co

Experience

Acquisitions:

Advised Marston’s PLC on several deals including:

- the £55m acquisition of the Charles Wells brewery and related brands (awarded Deal of the Year at Insider Central & East Of England Dealmakers Awards 2017)

- the £25.1m acquisition of Thwaites’ beer division and related beer brands

- the acquisition of Refresh plc (including the Wychwood Brewery and Hobgoblin beer brand)

Disposals:

- Advised Aston Villa Football Club’s owners on the investment by NSWE.

- Advised Clintons in respect of its exit from a retail joint venture with Amscan International.

- Advised the shareholders and management of Reward Gateway on a £140m secondary buy-out by Great Hill Partners.

Reorganisations:

- Advised Homeserve plc on its group reorganisation including the demerger of South Staffordshire Water and the acquisition of minority interests in its main operating subsidiary.

- Advised on the reorganisation of the Americk Packaging Group following its acquisition by SAICA.

- Advised the London Electric Vehicle Company (formerly The London Taxi Corporation) on structuring and financing arrangements related to the development of the new TX electric taxicab.

Mergers and takeovers:

- Advised Morgan Advanced Materials on the merger of its fired-shapes thermal ceramics business with Magma, a UK-based fired-shapes specialist, to create a combined business under joint ownership.

- Advised the Conygar Investment Company plc on its successful £30m hostile takeover of the Advantage Property Income Trust listed on the London Stock Exchange’s main market and the Channel Islands Stock Exchange.

- Advised Interserve plc on its £116m recommended takeover of MacLellan plc using cash, loan notes and shares with a mix-and-match alternative and constituting a class 1 transaction for the bidder.

Equity markets fundraisings and compliance:

- Advised Numis Securities Limited as nominated adviser and broker on the admissions to Aim of Hunters Property plc, with an initial market capitalisation of £16.9m and ULS Technology plc with a market capitalisation of approximately £26m including an associated placing raising £12.1m.

- Advised Rotala on two separate placings to raise £2.4m and £3.5m, respectively.

- Advised Premier Foods on its Class 1 circular in connection with the sale of its canned grocery operations.

Private Equity:

Ed has acted on investments by a number of private equity investors including 3i, LDC, Maven Capital Partners, Guinness Peat and acting for Alchemy Partners on 4 public-to-private takeovers and on the entry and exit of its investment in Ashbury Confectionery.

Other commercial:

- Advised UK Greetings on its greetings card supply arrangements with a major UK high-street retailer.