The Legal 500 Highlights: IBB – Has ‘growing track record’

Corporate & commercial

IBB (Iliffes Booth Bennett) is well positioned to capture the lion’s share of work for SME and owner-managed businesses located in West London and the wider Thames Valley region, and is continuing to attract mandates from larger corporates and multinationals such as Hertz and Cegedim.

In an illustration of its growing track record in cross-border deals, Adam Dowdney and Harriett Jones advised Italian drinks dispenser company, Celli, on its acquisition of Brewday.

In a highlight demonstrating the firm’s entrenched relationships with owner-managed businesses, Dowdney and Jones assisted the shareholders of Resourcing Solutions with the £15 million sale of a 70% shareholding to Match Group, and the grant of put and call options over the remaining 30%.

The practice also works in close collaboration with the firm’s real estate and construction groups to handle a range of work emanating from the hotel and housing sectors. Other clients include Renault Retail Group.

Commercial litigation

IBB further strengthened its commercial litigation offering through the firm’s merger with Turbervilles, with John Clement heading the newly combined litigation practice, which acts for a range of UK plcs and multinationals including Renault UK and Manpower UK.

The practice is particularly active in the automotive, manufacturing and leisure sectors, with the merger adding expertise in the park homes sector. Recent work includes acting for Optimise Water in High Court proceedings against Apogee Corporation concerning alleged overcharging for a managed print services contract, and defending a client in an ongoing Commercial Court claim, which is valued at $165m and involves Russia, Italy, Switzerland and Israel.

Other key figures include Paul Kite, who has more than 20 years’ experience handling a range of disputes related to commercial contracts, product liability, franchising, shareholder issues, and commercial fraud, and senior associate Sarah Jackson, who regularly handles company and partnership disputes and chancery litigation.

Banking & finance

IBB regularly acts for lenders and borrowers on acquisition and development finance mandates, with particular emphasis on the construction sector. Recent highlights include advising a property investment group on a £12m refinancing of a shopping centre and retail/residential investment property.

Other clients include AIB Group and NatWest.

Ross Johnstone heads the practice, which includes corporate finance experts Adam Dowdney and David Clark, and real estate finance specialist Gemma Coles.

Employment

IBB fields ‘an extremely efficient‘ team that ‘keeps clients informed at all times‘. It acts for a number of household names, as well as the UK subsidiaries of multinational companies, on a wide range of employment issues arising from large-scale projects, such as TUPE issues and redundancy matters, in sectors including charities, construction, automotive, technology and pharmaceutical.

The firm’s merger with Turbervilles in January 2018 has widened the practice’s sector coverage further, and has strengthened the practice through the arrival of several key figures, including Marc Jones, who is ‘extremely knowledgeable of all the legal aspects of unfair and wrongful dismissal; he is sympathetic to client concerns, yet realistic in how cases should be presented.‘

He joins a practice led by Justin Govier, who has particular expertise in redundancy matters, international and pan-European HR mandates, and drafting and implementing business and workforce strategic plans, among other employment areas.

Also recommended are Richard Devall, whose expertise includes the enforcement of restrictive covenants, and Robert Dixon.

Commercial property

IBB attracts praise for its ‘excellent resources, flexible mindset and good value for money‘. Headed by Bill Bidder, the sizeable team handles the full range of commercial property matters, with a particularly strong reputation for residential development and regeneration work, where it acts for major developers and housebuilders including Barratt Homes, Persimmon and Bellway. It also has a growing hotel-sector workload.

Recent highlights include advising Lands Improvement on the disposal of three development parcels, acting for Thrive Homes on the acquisition and development of a former industrial site in Hemel Hempstead, and acting for Optima on the sale and development of a new industrial/warehouse scheme on a town-centre brownfield site.

Juliusz Wodzianski and Susan Mawson are also recommended, as is Christian Le Gouais, whose ‘tenacity, attention to detail and commerciality sets him out from other lawyers’.