Record year for law firm driven by corporate and commercial growth

The multi-service firm, which rebranded in Spring 2021, experienced growth across all its services, most notably within its corporate and commercial team.

Central to MMW’s continued growth is the firm’s involvement in several major deals and investments, most recently having acted for Cookstown Cement Ltd in its acquisition of Lafarge Cement Ireland, which completed in January 2022.

Director and head of Corporate/Commercial Damian McParland believes this period of growth is reflective of both the strength of the firm’s people and the ambition of Northern Ireland business: “2021 was, despite all the external challenges, a record year for our firm, with MMW advising on M&A transactions with an aggregate value of over £350m representing a significant share of the market.

“The sheer volume, value and significance of the M&A and other corporate work in which we are involved was extremely encouraging – not only reflecting the strength of our growing team and their expertise, but also the tenacity and ambition of Northern Ireland’s business sector.”

Highlights of 2021 included MMW acting for local e-learning business Learning Pool and its management team in one of the largest ever American investments in a Northern Ireland business, which saw US private equity firm Marlin Equity Partners buy out Carlyle Cardinal Ireland (CCI).

Further corporate deals MMW advised on in 2021 included the sale of JB Plant Hire to Briggs Equipment and the acquisition of Greenan Generation Limited by Energy Acquisitions Group. In addition, the firm’s involvement in equity investments, primarily in the technology sector, remained strong.

The firm has increased its employee base to 50, with plans to add a further 10 to its team over the course of the year ahead.

“We set out a strategic growth plan in early 2021 which coincided with the launch of our refreshed brand,” Damian added. “This was essentially the firm marking the start of a focused new chapter that is very much future focused, driven by ambitious targets and delivered by an extremely talented group of people. We are proud to work with a wide range of exceptional organisations and businesspeople who share our determination – our success is thanks to their trust, combined with the hard work and skill of our people.”

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