IPOs and listings

• Over 20 years’ experience advising numerous companies, shareholders, governments and underwriting banks on initial public offerings and listings of companies on the London stock exchange and other international stock exchanges. 
• Experience includes acting on the IPOs of Eurowag, Softline, Moonpig, Network International, Allegro.eu, Ninety One, Allied Irish Banks. Coca-Cola Iberian Partners, Arion Bank, Equiniti, Clydesdale Bank, Hibernia REIT, McCarthy & Stone, Ibstock, Softcat, Marel, Electrica and DP Eurasia (Domino’s Pizza). 

Public company transactions

• Experience acting as strategic adviser to listed companies and their advisers on transformational events and transactions, including demergers, acquisitions and disposals, restructurings and reorganisations, and changes to capital structure. 
• Examples include advising on: the demerger of Softline into its global and Russian businesses; the demerger of Ninety One from Investec; the refinancing (and debt for equity swap) of Interserve; the acquisition by Hellenic Bank of assets and liabilities of Cyprus Cooperative Bank; the demerger of Clydesdale Bank from National Australia Bank Limited; numerous open offers and rights issues, including by Easyjet, Capita, Rolls Royce, Equiniti, Hibernia REIT and Piraeus Bank.

Corporate governance

• Adviser to listed and private companies on a multitude of corporate governance matters, such as compliance with listing rules, director duties, board effectiveness, internal procedures and controls, sustainability, corporate reporting and investor engagement. 

Public policy and regulatory change

• James is a thought-leader for equity capital markets and financial services in the UK and beyond. He is involved in numerous industry groups, trade associations and policy initiatives, with respect to financial services laws, regulations and market practice. This includes the recent and current reforms of the UK financial services and listings landscapes, and changes to the audit and corporate reporting frameworks. He is also a member of numerous industry think tanks and committees. Clients benefit from his in-depth technical knowledge and forward-looking approach both on and off deal.