Southampton corporate and finance teams celebrate multiple wins at the Solent Deals Awards 2017

Blake Morgan has taken two top honours for lawyers – Law Firm of the Year and Lawyer of the Year – at the Solent Deals Awards, the south coast’s major corporate finance awards event.

The awards recognise and celebrate excellence in deal making across the South Coast. The overall title of Law Firm of the Year recognises the strength of Blake Morgan’s corporate team in delivering advice on complex deals in a wide range of sectors in the region and the firm’s expertise in banking and asset finance work.

The coveted individual Lawyer of the Year prize went to Steve Cole, who leads Blake Morgan’s Banking and Finance team on the South Coast.  Steve, based in Blake Morgan’s Southampton office, is a specialist in commercial, property and asset finance.

Blake Morgan were also recognised for their roles in  advising HSBC on the winning deals in the Small and Mid-range Deal of the Year categories at the awards – the management buy-out of Stewart Signs and the management buy-out of China Tool Projects/CT Automotives.

The corporate team is acknowledged within the legal industry for providing a first class level of service across a wide range of transactions including mergers, acquisitions, management buy-outs, sales, private equity, IPOs and joint ventures. The banking and finance team is also widely recognised for its strong commercial approach when acting for lenders and borrowers in all types of financing transactions.

James Hawkeswood, who leads Blake Morgan’s Corporate Team on the South Coast, said: “This award is further recognition of the strength and depth of Blake Morgan’s offering for corporate clients, and I am extremely proud of every member of the team whose hard work and expertise has contributed to Blake Morgan being honoured as Law Firm of the Year.”

“I would also like to congratulate Steve Cole, whose extensive experience and exceptional performance on behalf of his clients make him a worthy winner. To take the two top awards for lawyers at such a prestigious event for the Solent region is a tremendous achievement which affirms our position as leading deal makers in the region.”

Steve Cole commented: “These awards demonstrate my team’s commitment to delivering top quality service for our clients in the region.  It has been a privilege to work with an excellent set of clients and advisors on some of the most ground breaking deals here on the South Coast.”

Blake Morgan is recognised as having one of the leading corporate and commercial practices in the south and is listed in the highly-regarded Legal 500 directory, which notes that its “knowledge and experience of corporate transactions is first class”.

Leading legal directory Chambers lists the firm for its banking and finance expertise, noting that the team is “especially noted for its work on structured financings, refinancings and acquisition financings” and its experience in handling cross-border transactions.