Inward investment into the UK

Exceptional legal support for overseas investors

A combination of factors, including the UK’s departure from the EU and the relative weakening of the British pound, has seen overseas investment in the UK increase. Clarke Willmott’s team of corporate and commercial solicitors specialises in advising overseas investors who may be looking to invest in the UK.

Whether you wish to invest in a business or property, engaging a solicitor well versed in UK law and economics is crucial. With offices in London and across England and Wales, Clarke Willmott is well placed to service overseas and our regional structure allows us to offer high quality legal advice and expertise at a competitive price.

How Clarke Willmott can help

Our commercial solicitors regularly advise overseas clients on:

• Acquisitions of UK businesses and assets
• International investments into UK businesses
• UK aspects of cross-border and multi-jurisdiction transactions
• UK corporate tax
• Overseas investment into UK real estate

Some international transactions we have advised on

Strategic investment by Oerlikon Drive Systems (ODS) GmbH

ODS is a constituent part of leading global technology group Oerlikon, based in Switzerland. Oerlikon has more than 13,800 employees at over 180 locations in 37 countries, with sales of more than £1.5 billion in 2016.

The firm approached us to assist with their strategic investment in Ashwoods Automotive, a designer and manufacturer of magnet electric motors. The structure involved a partial exit for some members of management, a direct equity investment involving an option structure and a complex pre-completion reorganisation of the target group.

Working with ODS’ internal teams, plus third party law firms acting for the target and the prior investors, Clarke Willmott’s team progressed the transaction to a conclusion on an aggressive timescale of under two months. Completion took place on time, within agreed budgets and, most importantly, delivered an important strategic acquisition for the client.

Oliver Habluetzel, General Counsel and the instructing representative for ODS, commented that, “it was a pleasure working with Rob and the team and the whole team at ODS really appreciated the very efficient and to the point support provided by CW”.

Mitula Classified S.L.

We advised Mitula, a global digital classified group, on the acquisition of Lokku Limited, a UK-based search engine. The buyer was based in Spain and Australia, and the sellers based in the UK and Spain. The acquisition was a critical building block for the client towards a listing on the Australian Stock Exchange, and to that end required heavy negotiation and completion on an aggressive timescale.

UTAC CERAM

We acted for UTAC CERAM, through a newly formed UK subsidiary UTAC Limited, in the acquisition of the business and assets of the Management System Certification branch of the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) of the UK government Department of Transport.

Working alongside US lawyers, introduced to the deal by Clarke Willmott, we also acted for UTAC Ltd in the acquisition of the Detroit office of the MSC branch of the VCA.

Contact an international corporate solicitor today

If you would like to find out more about how we our international corporate solicitors can support you and your business, please call 0800 652 8025 (+44 345 652 8025 outside of the UK) or contact one of the team directly.

Clarke Willmott has offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton and Taunton providing corporate legal advice to UK and international clients.