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Deal Support in Scotland

If you are engaged in a transaction or investment involving a Scottish target or with a Scottish element, having the right Scottish legal support on hand can ensure compliance with Scots law and help effect the deal. Such access to specialist local sector knowledge can also give you insight into market opportunities and a local legal presence for quick deal completion.

How can Thorntons help?

If you are a lawyer based outside Scotland, we can help you in any transactions you handle which have a Scottish element. An independent Scottish law firm with offices in 11 towns and cities across Scotland, Thorntons can provide hands-on assistance for you in respect of almost any target company or client and has the knowledge, experience and flexible approach to working to give you the support you require. Additionally, we can offer other UK law firms competitive solutions for any element of UK transactional work, such as fixed price due diligence assistance.  


Our services

We have considerable experience of cross-border M&A transactions and private equity transactions where the target is wholly or partly based in Scotland, and can provide you with any assistance you require to effect your transaction, from carrying out full diligence on the target to more limited matters such as contract reviews. We can also assist in practical ways such as hosting data rooms and reviewing and uploading physical documents.

We have a number of English-qualified lawyers in our Corporate and Commercial Property teams, and are happy to discuss the outsourcing of any diligence requirements of your English transactions – as well as adding to your team’s capacity, we believe this can provide you with a cost-effective solution for dealing with diligence demands.

For transactions in Commercial Property or Healthcare our experienced specialist teams have local sector and regulatory knowledge to give you any support you need to fulfil the deal.

If any of your deal documents are to be subject to Scots law, we can help in negotiating, drafting or reporting on them for you.

In addition, Thorntons has a number of commercial lawyers who are also qualified in English law, so we can “translate” any aspect of Scots law into its nearest English law equivalent if wanted.

Recent changes in the ability to enter into counterpart documents have made completing transactions with a Scottish element – and in particular those involving the creation of securities – more convenient. However, it is now often necessary to have a physical presence in order to complete a transaction with a Scottish element.

Thorntons’ office network covers 10 towns and cities across Scotland and all the offices have meeting and video conferencing facilities. This gives us the base from which our lawyers can provide the practical assistance you may need in order to smoothly and successfully complete your transactions.

In the event that an insolvency procedure is required as part of your transaction, then we are ideally placed to help in procuring such appointment for you at the appropriate court from one of our 10 legal offices.

If you require assistance in purchasing from an insolvency practitioner appointed in Scotland, then we have considerable experience of insolvency purchases. Find out more about our corporate recovery and insolvency assistance.

Why use Thorntons?

As one of Scotland’s largest independent legal firms, Thorntons has a large and experienced corporate transactional team who are ready to help you in any merger and acquisition or investment transactions across the UK. With offices in 10 towns and cities across Scotland and specialist sector knowledge, we can provide hands-on assistance in respect of almost any Scottish target company or client.

For comprehensive commercial Scots law advice and services or to discuss any requirements you may have, call us on 03330 430350 or make an enquiry online and we will contact you.