Corporate Associate

Lewis Silkin; Manchester; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player seeks a dedicated corporate solicitor to join its top-ranked M&A team in Manchester. The role involves advising on a variety of corporate services, including mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, and private equity transactions. You will be part of a collaborative and supportive environment, encouraged to take the lead on transactions while developing your legal expertise. This firm values integrity, clarity, and excellence, providing a unique culture that embraces diversity and innovation. If you're ready to make a significant impact and grow your career in a dynamic setting, this opportunity is perfect for you.

Benefits

Flexible working patterns

Inclusive workplace culture

Professional development opportunities

Qualifications

• Strong experience in M&A and corporate finance transactions.
• Ability to draft and negotiate sale and purchase agreements.

Responsibilities

• Work in teams tailored to transaction size and complexity.
• Run transactions with guidance and develop legal knowledge.

Skills

Mergers and Acquisitions

Corporate Finance

Legal Due Diligence

Venture Capital

Private Equity

Drafting Agreements

General Corporate Advisory

Education

Law Degree

Qualified Solicitor

Job description

Lewis Silkin works with leading businesses to protect and enhance their most important assets - their ideas, their people, their brand and their future. We call it: Ideas. People. Possibilities.

With offices in London, Oxford, Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff, Belfast, Dublin and Hong Kong, we are recognised by clients and industry alike as being distinct for our unique culture, market-leading practice areas, sector focused approach and for providing solutions to complex, multijurisdictional business challenges, with a pragmatic and human touch. We have two things at our core: people — both ours and our clients’— and a focus on creative, tech and innovative businesses.

Our culture is encapsulated by an ethos of bravery and kindness, guided by our values of Integrity, Clarity, Unity and Excellence (our ‘I-CUE’). We aim to provide a supportive environment for our people, clients and wider community and embrace diversity & inclusion, ensuring people are able to bring their full selves to work.

The department

Our corporate team is consistently top-ranked for corporate M&A, particularly for mid-size deals of up to £100m and for transactions involving creative and tech businesses. We are ranked Tier 1 by Legal 500 and Band 1 by Chambers & Partners and have maintained these rankings for several years.

We deliver transactional advice and support of the highest quality backed up by our experts in key practice areas including data and privacy, tax, intellectual property, employment and real estate. This is borne out by the legal directory ratings, the testimony of our clients and by the fact that our clients tend to stay with us.

The team also has a growing venture capital and private equity practice which includes all aspects of corporate finance transactions from early investment, Series A and B funding rounds through to exit, frequently for clients who are involved in cutting-edge startups and their founders, as well as investors in tech, healthcare and financial services businesses.

Our experts advise on the full range of corporate services:

• Mergers and Acquisitions – share and asset sales and purchases for corporates, buyout transactions and due diligence. Our clients range from UK, European and US listed multinational organisations, through to UK and international funds, to owner-managed businesses in sectors from financial services to advertising. Our extensive experience acting for clients in the media and tech industries gives us an unrivalled expertise in these sectors.
• Corporate finance – venture capital and private equity investments which includes pre-IPO fundraising. We act for numerous companies and investors from business angels and venture funds to private equity houses, as well as for investee companies and management/founders.
• Joint ventures – contractual structures, corporate and LLP vehicles, and tax efficient structuring. Joint ventures often provide the appropriate solution and structure for a specific business venture. We help in the choice of the appropriate joint venture vehicle and deal with its tax efficient structuring and associated funding.
• General corporate advice – insolvency and corporate recovery, statutory and regulatory compliance, shareholders’ and partnerships agreements and constitutional agreements. This includes advising individuals on the best corporate vehicle for their business; keeping them up to date with recent changes in law and practice; and the right course of action to take should their business encounter financial difficulties.
• Debt – loans and security and general financial advice. We advise both borrowers and lenders on appropriate finance structures, together with providing general advice on day to day financial matters.
• Public markets – IPOs and secondary issues (primarily on AIM or Aquis), as well as market rules and regulatory issues, continuing obligations, public to private, and acquisitions for listed companies on the Official List as well as AIM and Aquis. We count among our clients UK and international listed companies, banks, brokers, and public company directors both as boards and in their personal capacities. Our team advises public companies, sponsors and NOMADs on the full range of listed company transactions including listings and fundraisings, reverse takeovers and substantial acquisitions, and market compliance on acquisitions, disposals, refinancing’s and day-to-day business.

Commercial tax – tax efficient structuring and reorganisations. Underpinning all of our transactional work is the support of our tax colleagues. Getting the tax right is fundamental to any corporate activity. Our tax experts are well versed in structuring corporate acquisitions and disposals, private equity transactions and debt structuring. They also regularly advise on issues from transfer pricing to LTIPs

Responsibilities

• We work in teams tailored to the size and complexity of the transaction.
• The successful individual will be a key part of a hard-working, friendly and supportive team; therefore, the ideal candidate will be a strong team player and have experience working in a high performing and collaborative environment.
• Our associates are encouraged to run their own transactions (with guidance on hand as and when necessary) and to develop their legal knowledge.
• All members of our team are given the opportunity to help grow our business and participate fully in our business development initiatives. We are keen that our associates play an active role in this aspect of our business, and they are encouraged to contribute with their own ideas and initiatives.
• The ideal candidate would have significant prior experience in respect of the majority of the below:
  • the venture capital and/or private equity investment process, acting for investors and the target company/management teams (including deal documentation such as investment agreements and articles);
  • the M&A process;
  • drafting and negotiating sale and purchase agreements and drafting the typical ancillary documents on an acquisition or disposal;
  • legal due diligence, including collating reports and advising on solutions;
  • the disclosure process and reviewing disclosure letters or schedules;
  • general corporate advisory work such as share issues, share buy-backs and internal re-organisations;
  • producing shareholder agreements and bespoke articles of association;
  • handling calls with clients without supervision and being heavily involved in all parties’ calls/meetings; and
  • acting on transactions with parties based overseas, including managing and co-ordinating overseas counsel.

Additional information

At Lewis Silkin our ethos is simple. We strive to do the best for our clients, our people and the communities in which we operate. We recognise that an inclusive workplace allows for all kinds of ideas and thoughts, a variety of points of view that can trigger discussions or deliver innovative results, and a wide range of versatile skills and expertise. We are proud of the diversity within Lewis Silkin and of our culture that allows people to be themselves at work, ensuring we provide the best possible service to our clients. We are committed to finding the right person for this role and are open to discussing flexible working patterns and office location.