James McKay is a partner in the Corporate Practice based in our London office. His expertise covers all aspects of corporate work, with a particular emphasis on mergers and acquisitions and private equity.
- Advising Grafton Group plc on the sale of Buildbase and its traditional UK merchanting business to Huws Gray/Blackstone and on numerous acquisitions including Stairbox and Leyland SDM.
- Advising Genuit Group plc on numerous acquisitions including NuAire, Manthorpe, Permavoid and Terrain.
- Advising LMAX and LMAX shareholders on the acquisition by JC Flowers of a 30% stake.
- Advising LMAX on numerous acquisitions and investments including Curex, BlackBull and FX HedgePool.
- Advising Inflexion and the shareholders of Lintbells on its sale to Vetnique Labs.
- Advising Great Hill Partners and the shareholders of Reward Gateway on its tertiary buyout by Castik Capital and Abry Partners.
- Advising Chiltern Capital and the shareholders of SiXworks on its sale to IBM.
- Advising Chiltern Capital and the shareholders of VIMA on its sale to KBR.
- Advising the shareholders of Avvio on its sale to SHR/Serent Capital.
- Advising the shareholders of ShipServ on its sale to Marcura.
- Advising the shareholders of Entura on its sale to Corsearch.
- Advising the shareholders of Smart Apprentices on its sale to Advanced Computer Software.
- Advising the shareholders of Lane4 on its sale to EY.
- Advising Mitsubishi Chemicals UK on the disposal of its cast acrylic sheet and composites business.
- Advising Synthomer plc on the acquisition of Hexion Performance Adhesive & Coatings.
- Advising Benchmark Holdings plc on the disposal of Improve International.
- Advising Luceco plc on the acquisition of Kingfisher Lighting.
- Advising Coats Group plc on the disposal of its EMEA crafts business.
- Advising Ashland on the acquisition of the composite resin manufacturing operations of Reichhold.
- Advising KVH Industries on the disposal of the Videotel group of companies.
- Advising the shareholders of Market Data Services on its sale to Sumeru Equity Partners.
- Advising the shareholders of Adey Innovation on its buyout by LDC.
- Advising the shareholders of National Hickman on its sale to Masonite.
- Advising the shareholders of the Javelin Group on its sale to Accenture.
- Advising The BSS Group plc on the recommended cash and share offer by Travis Perkins plc.
- Advising Latchways plc on its recommended takeover by MSA Safety Inc.
- Advising Charterhouse Capital Partners on the disposal of Lucite International.
- Advising Six Nations management on the investment by CVC.
- Advising management on the secondary buyout of Accelya by Vista Equity Partners.
- Advising management on the MBO of Dr Martens by Permira.
- Advising management on the MBO of Reiss by Warburg Pincus.
Education
- College of Law, Guildford, 1995
Admissions
- England and Wales, 1997
- Recommended in The Legal 500 UK for M&A: mid-market, £50 million – £250 million as being “exceptionally attentive, technically knowledgeable” and delivering “a consistently high-quality service”.
- “He’s a very competent corporate lawyer with a good business sense.” “He has good technical expertise and excellent drafting skills.” Acritas Stars
- “James is incredibly smart. He’s very clear in the advice that he provides, very responsive, and always available for me when I need him, and that’s the bit that I value the most.” Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyers