Scottish law firm hails record-breaking £1 billion results

The mergers and acquisitions team delivered a record-breaking year across sectors spanning renewable energy, technology, transport and logistics, infrastructure, professional services, publishing, engineering, healthcare, hotels and leisure and financial services.

It included share and business acquisitions and disposals, management buy-outs, transition to employee ownership, joint ventures and group re-organisations.

Simon Brown, partner, said: “The market is buoyant, driven by increased activity of private equity firms and improved investor confidence. Of note was acting for the sellers in the sale of the entire issued share capital of Douglas Home & Co Ltd to EQ Accountants Ltd/Sumer Group, a transaction that marked further consolidation of the accountancy market.

“In terms of mainstream M&A transactions, we have seen a growing trend of buyers initially acquiring 70-80% of target companies, with a call option to purchase the remainder over two to five years; and retaining incumbent management with an incentive to further grow Ebitda.

“Geographically, buyers have predominantly been English or European, particularly from Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands; with some from further afield, such as North America, India and the Gulf states. This is a trend we expect to continue in 2025.”

Anderson Strathern’s private equity team also had a highly successful year, focusing on substantial investment deals – including one of the largest Series A investments in a Scottish business in 2024 – the £11m investment into its client and Scottish fintech company of the year Aveni.

Euan Tripp, partner, said: “We saw a significant spike in investment activity ahead of the Budget, but the pipeline remains excellent. Investor clients, such as Foresight Group and Maven Capital, have clear deployment plans for their Scottish-focussed funds, and investment from further afield, particularly London and the United States, continues to grow. Areas such as AI and energy transition are proving to be particularly attractive with huge growth opportunities for 2025.”

Max Scharbert, senior director, said: “Investment backed, partial buy-outs are proving popular, allowing successful succession and retirement strategies to be structured alongside continuing management teams benefiting from targeted investment. We are also seeing larger fundraising rounds in Scotland. However, there is no doubt that deals are taking longer to complete, with multiple investors becoming the norm.”

Pop-punk inspired coffee shop opens new kiosk in Glasgow centre

An award-winning pop-punk inspired coffee shop has opened a new cart in Glasgow’s St Enoch’s Centre.

The brand is inspired by pop-punk from the 2000s and now has five sites across Scotland, having growing rapidly since launching just over a year ago.

SHOT ‘N’ ROLL have already built up a strong reputation for speciality coffee and handrooled cinnamon rolls, with their house BIG SHOT Coffee a speciality grade roast from South America, rich in nutty, chocolate and caramel notes.

The brand has already been winning awards from its other destinations in Edinburgh at St James’ Quarter as well as three in Aberdeen at Union Square, Trinity Centre and Shiprow.

Political shifts: what does it mean for financial markets?

This article appears as part of the Money HQ newsletter.

In 2024, more than half the world’s population went to the polls and a record-breaking number of incumbents lost vote share.

Over the past 12 months:

The UK’s Conservative Party experienced its worst defeat since 1832

Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed almost continuously since 1955, lost its parliamentary majority

India’s Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Narendra Modi, lost its majority but remains the dominant coalition partner

The US saw Donald Trump and the Republican Party win a clean sweep of the popular and presidential votes, House of Representatives and Senate, defying a much-heralded close election.