OUR TEAM
Paul is a corporate lawyer with more than 12 years experience of providing advice and assistance on corporate and commercial matters across a variety of industry sectors. He has wide general corporate and M&A experience, with specific expertise in acquisitions and disposals, joint ventures, corporate structuring, and group reorganisations.
As well as working on large cross-border transactions, Paul works with SMEs throughout the UK, with a particular focus on advising family and owner-managed businesses. He is one of the corporate, commercial & regulatory team’s key advisers on business succession transactions, with specialist knowledge around the implementation of MBOs, MBIs, VIMBOs, and employee ownership.
Notable highlights include:
- Advised on the vendor induced management buy-in (VIMBI) of Scotwood Interiors Limited
- Advised on the restructuring and subsequent sale of the global wind turbine installation business Windhoist Group to European fund manager STAR Capital for an undisclosed consideration. Windhoist, an owner-managed business which is headquartered in Scotland with operations in Germany, Morocco, Ireland, South Africa and Australia, has installed more than 6,000 turbines worldwide, generating more than 11GW in capacity.
- Advised JW Grant, a Renfrewshire-based building and timber supplies company, on its purchase of Lothian Building Supplies in East Lothian. JW Grant is a major independent builders’ merchant in the west of Scotland, and this acquisition extends the business’ reach to the east of the country.
- Advising family-owned company, Connelly Group Holdings (CSS), on multiple corporate acquisitions including:
- Scottish Security & Fire Systems (2024)
- Brookfield Alarms Limited (2023)
- Intruder Detection and Electrical Services Limited (2022)
- Graham Robertson Electrical & Security Limited (2020)
- AFA Fire and Security Limited (2018)
- certain business and assets of Securus Group Limited (2018)
- the succession planning exercise resulting in CSS acquiring the entire shareholding held by one of CSS’ founding families through multiple share buybacks (2017)
- T&D Security Systems Limited (2016)
- Castle Security Group Limited (2014)
- Advising leading Scottish accountancy firm Scott-Moncrieff on the sale of its business and assets to Azets.
- Advising on the sale of Glasgow-based insurance broker Calcluth & Sangster to Greenwood Moreland/JMG group.
- Advised Dazzle & Inkspot Ltd, a family-run business of more than 50 years, on its transition to employee ownership, marking them as the 100th Scottish business to adopt this model.
- Advised on the sale of insurance broker CCRS Brokers Limited to the London headquartered Seventeen Group
- Advised on the sale of Electro Guard Fire & Security Ltd to, security industry consolidator, Scutum UK Group, a subsidiary of the French-owned Scutum Group
- Assisting the founder of one of Scotland’s leading game meat suppliers, Castle Game (Scotland) Ltd, on a business succession transaction. Castle Game supplies an array of top restaurants across the country, including exclusive Michelin-starred establishments in Edinburgh.
The Legal 500 ranks Paul as a “Recommended Lawyer” in Corporate & Commercial: EDI & GLA.
"Donnie Munro is authoritative. Stephen Chan is a technical expert. Paul MacDonald is a rising star."
I’m grateful to Paul Macdonald and the Harper Macleod team for their advice and expertise in negotiating the deal, which will benefit all parties”
"Paul Macdonald was proactive in ensuring that the transaction completed on time and in good order. He was very effective in driving the transaction forward. Connelly Security Systems has been instructing Harper Macleod for a number of years now and the service provided is always of an excellent standard".
Over a 9 month period, Paul Macdonald and Craig Ramsay were instrumental in helping me to sell my global wind turbine installation business to STAR Capital. Their commercial and down-to-earth advice helped me to understand what was required in terms of the process. They were always available to me and went above and beyond to direct the deal towards completion, which included negotiating with a top 10 global law firm and project managing the various professional advisors across the UK, Ireland, Ger-many, Morocco, South Africa and Australia. Whilst based in Glasgow they travelled throughout Scot-land, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and London liaising with me, other advisors on the sell side and also the buy side to keep the deal on track. Ultimately, they helped me achieve a very good exit and I was delighted with the service I received.”
“We would like to thank Paul Macdonald and the Harper Macleod team for their advice and professionalism in helping us through a very difficult and complex sale. We certainly would not hesitate to use their services in the future.”
“It is reassuring to have someone you can trust that takes great care in the preparation of all the necessary documentation, explaining where necessary its purpose in easy-to-understand language."
"Paul and his team guided us through the legal requirements for our management buy-out to process. They completed and prepared all necessary documentation and were extremely patient with us throughout the process. AFL wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Paul and his colleagues at Harper Macleod."
"Paul Macdonald helped guide Beecatcher Pte and Byron Bakery through two key transactions for our operations in Scotland. It was good to work with Paul and his team, and I would recommend Harper Macleod to others".
“Paul Macdonald and his team did a fantastic job, I was very impressed by their work ethic and quality of work. They were extremely personable/approachable and down-to-earth and responded very well at all stages”
"Paul Macdonald of Harper Macleod worked diligently and was willing to go above and beyond to get the deal done. His deal knowledge and friendly approach helped me to understand the sale process. Paul's guidance and professionalism allowed a good deal to be negotiated and I can retire with peace of mind."
“Paul Macdonald and Scott Milligan assisted from an early stage. They offered clear advice to Alba Windscreens on the transaction, helping negotiate the deal and guide the company through to completion. We were very happy with the professionalism and excellent service provided by them and we would recommend them to anyone."
INSIGHTS
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Harper Macleod advises Connelly Group Holdings on acquisition
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Harper Macleod advises on VIMBI of Scotwood Interiors
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Harper Macleod increases its share of the Scottish deals market
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Harper Macleod advises on business succession transaction for Castle Game (Scotland) Ltd
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Harper Macleod advises builders’ merchant on east coast acquisition
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Harper Macleod advises Caley Timber on move to Employee Ownership Trust
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Secure future for Renfrewshire alarms business
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