People
James Hutchinson
Partner
London
James is a partner and the head of the firm’s Corporate team. He has over 20 years of experience in advising on corporate and commercial matters for the construction, technology and insurance sectors.
He specialises in a range of transactional work including acquisitions and sales of businesses, M&A, management buyouts/buyins, private equity and joint ventures. He provides commercial advice on shareholder and partnership agreements, company formations, intellectual property, technology contracts and warranty and indemnity (W&I) insurance.
James has particular expertise acting on cross-border deals, regularly advising US and European companies on their UK transactions. He provides guidance on international market practice, risk mitigation strategies and facilitates the completion of deals with a focus on commerciality and cost efficiency.
With the construction sector increasingly moving towards digital solutions, James and his team advise on Software as a Service (SaaS), intellectual property rights, data protection, cyber liability, and the effective management and protection of technology assets.
He provides strategic advice to companies on corporate compliance matters and assists with the resolution of sensitive shareholder and partnership disputes.
James is a member of the Association of Partnership Practitioners, the Society for Computers and Law and the City of London Law Society.
Experience
- Advised NIRAS, an international multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy, on its acquisition of Lorien Engineering Solutions, consulting engineers providing services within the food and beverage, life science and advanced manufacturing sectors.
- Advised Profura, a Swedish investment group, on its acquisition of Framptons, a British food and beverage company known for its oat drink production.
- Advised the owners of US architect Sheehan Nagle Hartray Architects, on the UK elements of its sale to international architecture, engineering and geospatial consultant Woolpert.
- Advised the shareholders of Alconex, a multi-utility service provider, on the company’s sale to PE firm Portchester Equity.
- Advised the shareholders of Eta Projects, consulting engineers providing mechanical and electrical services, to Brush power networks.
- Advised US design and project management company Otak on its acquisition of a controlling stake in multi-disciplinary construction consultancy Walker Sime.
- Advised international infrastructure consultancy AECOM on its strategic investment in UK-based rail consultant SLC.
- Advised Reach plc (formerly Trinity Mirror) on the sale of its shareholding in The Communicator Corporation Limited, an email marketing business to US cloud services provider J2 Global.
- Advised Ramboll, an international engineering, architecture and consultancy, on the sale of its UK-based power system business to PSC Consulting.
- Advised the shareholders of MFD, a UK-based security consultancy, on the sale to Thornton Tomasetti, the international engineering consultancy behind the US Embassy in London.