Addleshaws' small deals initiative brings in new client

Leading northern practice Addleshaw Booth & Co has secured its first new client under a 'small deals' initiative it recently launched.

The firm was chosen by Piper Private Equity to work on a 3.4 million deal to fund the expansion of a chain of Latin American restaurants, using the initiative designed to give clients a more cost-effective option for transactions.

The firm has developed specific methods of drafting documents and managing the deal process to control costs on smaller transactions.

Solicitor Mike Hinchliffe, who acted on the deal, said: 'We try and identify the main issues of a transaction and focus on them.

It's about working with the client to find out what the most important factors are and concentrating on those, rather than spending too much time negotiating lesser points.'

Mr Hinchliffe explained that there are two parts to the initiative: 'We try and smooth out technical points in the documents and focus on process issues such as due diligence reporting, scoping them carefully.'

Mr Hinchliffe said Addleshaws introduced the initiative in part because of a need to manage legal costs to reflect overall deal size.

Andrew Towler