Geoffrey is a corporate lawyer with many years’ practice in the City acting for multinationals and entrepreneur-owned private companies, across a variety of sectors. His recent work has included advising on acquisitions and disposals of companies and businesses as well as on bank and other fundings, share buybacks and commercial contracting.
Geoffrey’s clients have included Haymarket Media Group, Bonhams, Sears plc, and the late Sir Terence Conran and the entities controlled by him.
In addition to his main practice, Geoffrey has in recent years been acting for charities which operate academies, establishing the first multi-academy trust. Geoffrey has been involved with acquiring about 100 schools in England.
Those were dark days and you were bloody brilliant. I could tell I wasn’t just a client, you were so invested in helping me and I’ll never forget that.
Auctioneer
Expertise
- Company and commercial law
- Public and private mergers and acquisitions
- Private equity transactions
- Investment/shareholder agreements and disputes
- Corporate finance
- Transactional due diligence
- Auction law
Experience
Media & Entertainment
- Sale by ATV Music and Northern Songs of the Beatles’ copyrights to Michael Jackson.
- Various buy-ins of minority shareholdings in the Haymarket Media Group and the related funding by way of bank debt.
- The purchase of numerous publications and publishing companies on behalf of a privately owned media group.
Private Equity
- The creation and subsequent buy-in of executive incentive shareholdings in the privately owned auctioneer business Bonhams.
- Various group reorganisations of companies within the Bonhams group.
- Various fundings by way of bank debt of the Bonhams group.
- Multimillion-pound debt issue on behalf of Sears plc.
Sales & Acquisitions
- Sale by Sears plc of the William Hill Organisation.
- Takeover offers for a number of UK listed companies.
- The acquisition of control (by way of subscription for shares) by private investors of Fitch PLC.
- The sale by way of a scheme of arrangement of Forward Technology Industries Plc, a listed company.
- Acted for the UK shareholders on the sale of Bonhams to private equity.
- The sale of The Conran Shop business to a private investor.
- The sale of 2-4 Boundary Street, a boutique hotel in Shoreditch.
Education
- Geoffrey spent eight years as a trustee of United Learning Trust (a subsidiary of UCST), which was then the largest operator of academies in England. He was also a trustee of New Schools Network for over ten years, a charity which supported the establishment of new state-funded schools in England. He is currently a trustee of Falcon Education Academies Trust, an academy trust whose principal purpose is to take on failing schools with a view to turning them around and passing them to other academy trusts once they are in good order.
- Acted for ARK Schools, Harris Federation, United Learning, Oasis Community Learning, Future Academies and other academy trusts, establishing over 100 academies.
- Advised in connection with pensions liabilities arising on the closure of an academy.
- Advised a London-based academy in relation to liabilities of directors during the Covid pandemic.
- The creation of the first multi-academy trust to operate a group of academies including persuading the Department for Children, Schools and Families of the value of such a structure, which has since been adopted as the standard structure for operating academies.
- Drafted for the Department for Children, Schools and Families the first Master Funding Agreement for multi-academy trusts.
Charities
- The creation of the first multi-academy trust to operate a group of academies including persuading the Department for Children, Schools and Families of the value of such a structure, which has now been adopted as the standard structure for operating academies.
- Drafted for the Department for Children, Schools and Families the first Master Funding Agreement for multi-academy trusts.
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Recognition
Recognised by The Legal 500 (2021-2023) for M&A: Smaller Deals up to £50M
Co-author of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s guide to management buyouts.
Author of a series of online courses published by specialist educational publishers Anspear Publishing, constituting the only available comprehensive guide to the governance of academy trusts.
He is lauded for his command of the legislation surrounding academies, including sponsorship matters. He is “always a pleasure to work with”, according to sources. Chambers UK 2016
“He is extremely knowledgeable on anything to do with academies and free schools. He always delivers services promptly and will go the extra mile to get things completed.” Chambers UK 2015
Career
Geoffrey qualified as a solicitor in 1972. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2019, he worked at the following firms:
- Stone King
- Lewis Silkin
- Titmuss, Sainer & Webb (now Dechert)