International corporate and banking lawyers at Liverpool law firm Hill Dickinson worked on completed deals worth more than £2bn in the first half of 2021. Tony McDonough reports

Liverpool law firm Hill Dickinson’s international corporate and banking team advised on 78 completed deals in the first half of 2021 with a total value of more than £2bn.

This is almost a doubling in value against the same period in 2020 when £1.1bn of deals were completed, although the number of deals was broadly the same. The firm’s corporate teams operate out of Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, London and Hong Kong.

Hill Dickinson advised on a significant number of M&A transactions, including deals such as advising ADES International Holding on its US$516m recommended cash takeover and EMMAC Life Sciences on its US$345m sale.

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It has also advised on a number of IPOs and secondary fundraisings and continued to have one of the leading AIM practices in the UK. The firm has maintained its top five ranking for the number of retained AIM clients it advises (34) in the latest AIM Advisers Rankings Guide.

And the corporate team continued to advise the firm’s institutional investor and management team clients on a number of high-profile mid-market PE investment deals and buy-and-build programmes and exits.

There has been continued expansion to meet client demand, including the launch of a corporate offering in the firm’s Leeds office. Recent hires have boosted the corporate and banking team to more than 75 specialist lawyers across the firm’s UK and international offices.

Ian Riggs, Hill Dickinson’s national head of corporate, said: “The period saw very significant levels of activity, which was a continuation of the strong recovery in deal volumes that we saw in the second half of 2020.

“The UK markets have remained resilient and we have been exceptionally busy during the most recent lockdown advising on transactions spanning a range of sectors and markets.

“Conducting this number of deals remotely, and often at high speed, has been challenging but our people have demonstrated huge commitment to ensure that we continue to support our clients and deliver bespoke commercial solutions in these difficult times.”