OUR TEAM
Stephen splits his time between Corporate and Partnership work and China business. He has also been appointed by the Lord President of the Court of Session as the Court Reporter. As Court Reporter he assists the Commercial Court on complex company petitions normally concerning Listed companies and PLCs.
Stephen has a wide range of experience in corporate and corporate finance work, including mergers and acquisitions, management buy-outs, private equity, joint ventures and public offerings. He is recommended in Corporate and Commercial by Legal 500 where he has been described as “detailed-oriented and focused”, “very commercial” and “a technical expert”. Examples of his M&A experience include:
- Advising the shareholders of Dalcross Group, which provides aviation services at Aberdeen and Inverness airports, in their sale to Skytanking.
- Advising Low & Bonar plc on the Scottish aspects of its £107 million sale to German firm Freudenberg SE, a leading player in the global market for performance materials. The advice included all aspects of the Scottish scheme of arrangement which required the sanction of the Court of Session.
- Acting for Vaisala, a Finish listed company, in its acquisition of Nevis Technologies, a Scottish software and services business.
- Advising Port of Leith Housing Authority in its acquisition of TBM Energy.
- Acting for the shareholders of Pump Action, a business specialising in the sale, installation and maintenance of pumps, in their sale to Nevis Capital.
- Acting for Banwell & Associates in its acquisition of BMTS.
- Advising the shareholders of Whitespace in the sale of the whole issued share capital to Dentsu.
- Acting on the sale of Water Coolers (Scotland) Limited, a major supplier of water coolers in Scotland, in its sale to Eden Springs.
Stephen heads up the firm’s Partnership Law team and is recommended by Chambers UK, where he is described as “a specialist in Scottish partnership law and provides a fantastic service to clients”, “able to develop solutions to complex situations where other solicitors were unable to assist” and “a well-known expert in the partnership market”. He is the author of “A Practical Guide to Partnership Law in Scotland” which has been described as “a terrific book and deserves to be to the “go to” reference for the law of Scottish partnerships”. Stephen is also the author of Partnership Law Styles in Greens Practice Styles, used by other lawyers.
Stephen has been heavily involved in the use of Scottish limited partnerships as investment vehicles having advised in over 100 Scottish limited partnerships primarily as the carried interest or co-investment vehicles in property and private equity fund vehicles. Examples of his Partnership law experience include:
- Acting for AxiaFunder on setting up its parent limited partnership and a further 19 subsidiary limited partnerships for use as investment vehicles for litigation funding.
- Acting for a property fund on setting up a carried interest vehicle relating to property investment at Kings Cross.
- Acting for a property fund on setting up a carried interest vehicle relating to property investment at Brentford Cross.
- Setting up a Scottish limited partnership to be used as the carried vehicle in a private equity fund which invests and supports black-owned businesses.
- Advising Brixham on a new Scottish limited partnership to be used for retirement home property investment.
- Advising RPLP General Partner on a new Scottish limited partnership to be used for property development along the Glasgow waterfront, a deal which was highlighted by Chambers UK 2021 as its stand out deal.
Stephen also heads the China country desk, as part of Harper Macleod’s international offering. He has advised Chinese companies in various acquisitions and investments of Scottish businesses including advising clients on the National Security Investment Act 2021 (“NSIA”). In particular, his transactions have been called in for a full review by the UK Government under the NSIA and Stephen has managed to successfully obtain approval by the UK Government for such transactions. Examples of his China experience include:
- Shortlisted for Professional Advisory of the Year in the China-Scotland Business Awards 2024
- Advising a Shanghai business in acquiring a Scottish manufacturing business.
- Advising on investment by Carbon Science in Edinburgh Bioscience, an Edinburgh based healthcare R&D business. This deal was shortlisted for the China Britain Business Investor of the Year 2020.
- Acting for Chinese hospitality business in the demerger and purchase of a Scottish company part owned by it.
- Advising on, commercial agreements for Haoguang Biotechnology.
- Acting for the proposed purchase by a Chinese client of the business and assets of Kaiam.
Stephen has also tutored on Commercial Contracts at Glasgow University and created the Partnership Law course taught there as part of the Diploma in Legal Practice. He is the Legal Secretary to the Edinburgh Comedy Awards and also previously acted as Company Secretary to two PLCs.
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