Geraint TilsleyPartner

My practice is focused on:

• Private M&A, with a particular focus on cross-border transactions

• Venture capital and private equity, acting for both investors and investees)

• Joint ventures

• Corporate advisory matters.

I have worked on transactions across a wide range of sectors during my career, but I have developed significant expertise over the years acting for clients active in the technology/IT and high-value manufacturing and engineering sectors. Those clients range from entrepreneurs through to large corporations and funders, from both the UK and further afield. In particular, I work regularly with clients from the United States, France, Germany and Spain.

I am ranked in Legal 500 as a Leading Individual in the Welsh legal market, and described as having “successfully cultivated a strong private equity/venture capital offering”. Chambers UK and Chambers Europe both recommend me as a Band 2 practitioner. Chambers describes me as “an excellent corporate practitioner”, with clients commenting in their feedback that I am “really bright and very collaborative”, “tough but very personable when handling transactional matters and “thoughtful in his approach” and adding that my “advice goes beyond pure matters of law, which enables us to make informed commercial decisions”.

Several transactions on which I’ve worked have been recognised by peers in the corporate finance industry, including Insider Dealmakers North West International Deal of the Year 2019, Insider Dealmakers Wales VC Deal of the Year 2018 and Wales Deal of the Year 2012.

Mergers and Acquisitions

One of my two main areas of focus is advising clients on the sale and purchase of businesses and companies. I regularly act for both buyers and sellers which means I can see deal points from both sides and help devise commercial solutions. I have particular expertise in advising overseas based buyers, helping to guide them through the UK-specific aspects of the process by drawing on my experience of transactions in their home jurisdictions, especially in the US, France, Germany and Spain.

Venture capital and private equity

My other main area of focus is venture capital and private equity funding. I advise VC funds and leading mid-market PE funds on new investments and portfolio issues, as well as investee companies and their management teams. Many of those transactions have involved businesses in the technology/IT sectors, but I’ve also worked on several transactions in the healthcare and leisure sectors.

An area of real strength is advising PE funds and their portfolio companies on M&A activity, as it enables me to combine my two main practice areas and deliver legal and commercial advice across the transaction.

Joint ventures

My work on joint ventures has involved several innovative public/private sector JVs and partnerships, including arrangements between:

• EADS/Airbus, the government sector and universities; and

• BP, a leading UK property developer and the public sector in relation to the redevelopment of large areas of former industrial land in South Wales.

Corporate advisory

I advise on all aspects of company secretarial and corporate governance matters. In addition to the experience derived from working with clients over the years, I have hands-on experience from being company secretary to Wales Millennium Centre (Wales’ national performing arts centre) since 2013.