Kieran Donovan
PartnerKieran Donovan is a partner and head of Napthens' Liverpool office where he leads the corporate team across the Liverpool City Region.
With a well-deserved reputation as a dealmaker, Kieran is widely recognised for his commercial approach to transactions and his ability to meet clients’ strategic objectives, both personal and business related
He has a track record of delivering a first-rate service combined with top quality advice to his clients and with a strong network of contacts in the region’s business community.
Kieran has worked on a number of notable transactions throughout his career across a wide range of sectors and brings this expertise to bear for the benefit of all clients irrespective of their size or sector.
He combines specialist corporate advice with a commercial approach to problem solving and works closely with clients, accountants, wealth managers and other advisers to provide a truly integrated service that ensures clients’ personal goals are aligned with the operational needs of their business.
Kieran also regularly acts for management teams and regional institutional investors on venture capital and private equity fund raises and exits.
In addition to his significant experience, Kieran is recognised by The Legal 500 as a ‘leading individual’ in corporate law in Liverpool.
Experience
Kieran has more than 20 years’ corporate transactional experience advising large corporates, owner managed businesses and family companies on mergers and acquisitions, buy and build strategies, business and share disposals, succession planning, joint ventures and shareholder reorganisations.
Recent deals include:
- Advising the management team of RSK Group, a global leader in the delivery of sustainable solutions, on a £520 million preferred equity investment from a consortium led by Searchlight Capital Partners LP, Ares Management Funds, Penta Capital LLP and BGF, to support the significant aspirations of the RSK Group to deliver its 2030 growth strategy
- Advising the shareholders of Wirral headquartered wet-ink label producer Tipografic on its sale to Dutch labels specialist Royal Sens. Burges Salmon advised Royal Sens. DLA LLP and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer acted for the buyer’s debt funders ITS Rabobank and DMF
- Advising the shareholders of Cheshire based Prism Business Developments Limited, a Managed Service Provider specialising in the SME marketplace, on its sale to private equity backed Focus Group, one of the UK’s leading independent providers of essential business technology
- Advising the shareholders of Widnes based Solen Energy Group, a leading European wholesale distributor of solar PV and electrical PV products, on its sale to Kingspan Insulated Panels of Ireland, a leader in innovative building envelope solutions for commercial and industrial sectors
- Advising the shareholders of Cheshire based Carebeans, a digital care planning and management software provider for the social care sector on its sale to US based RL Datix, the leading global provider of connected healthcare operations software and services
- Advising management on the MBO of Inteb Managed Services a Merseyside-based energy and sustainability consultancy whose clients include large corporates and real estate companies across the UK
- Advising Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, NPIF NW Equity LP (managed by Maven Equity Finance), on a multi-million £ series of equity fund raises in Cheshire headquartered filtration and separation technology business, Evove Limited alongside co-investors AM Ventures Additive Manufacturing Fonds I GmbH & Co. KG of Germany and US venture capital funds At One Ventures II, L.P. and One Small Planet Capital II LLC
- Advising the shareholders of Surrey based Apollo Housewares, a leading UK provider of value driven home and kitchen products, on its sale to German headquartered Fackelmann Group, a leading global manufacturer and distributor of kitchen homeware products
- Advising the shareholders of northwest based creative led experiential event agency, We Love This, on its sale to US based veSpace, a leading global venue, event and production company
- Advising Alpha Cars (Liverpool) Limited, Liverpool’s largest privately owned operator of private hire taxis, on its acquisition of Southport based All Whites Satellite Cars, helping to consolidate Alpha’s position in the taxi operator market as a leading regional player
- Acting for the shareholders of Hafod Renewable Energy Limited on the sale to Certas Energy UK
- Acting for YFM and management on the sale of Wakefield Acoustics to Ceco Environmental Corp
- Acting for management on the MBO of BIL Group backed by PHD Industrial Holdings Limited
- Acting for the founders on the sale of Netmetix to ZenZero Solutions Limited
- Acting for the shareholders of BWM Accountants on its merger with Mitchell Charlesworth Accountants
- Acting for Maven on various development capital investments into early stage businesses through NPIF
Affiliations
- Member of the Law Society
- Chair of Liverpool City Region Corporate Finance Group
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