Richard specialises in corporate and commercial law and has over 15 years’ experience advising clients on:
- buying and selling businesses and companies;
- shareholder arrangements and joint ventures;
- company re-organisations;
- share incentive schemes;
- fundraising and banking documents;
- partnerships and LLPs;
- commercial agreements and general contractual issues.
Richard provides clear and practical advice focused on helping clients achieve their aims. He is praised for quickly identifying the key issues to resolve and for his commitment to making sure clients get their deal done on time.
Richard graduated in Law from King’s College London in 2000 and worked at the High Court and in Canada before joining Leathes Prior in 2004. He trained with the firm, qualified as a solicitor in September 2006 and became a Partner in 2014. Richard is the firm’s Compliance Officer and a member of the firm’s Management Committee.
Richard is also a Notary Public, which means he can help with authenticating documents for use in other countries.
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Corporate matters Richard has acted on include:
- acting for CVS, a large veterinary group, on the acquisition of over 100 veterinary practices across the country
- advising on sale of road transport company Jack Richards & Son Limited to fellow East Anglia-based hauliers Turners (Soham) Limited
- acting for Suffolk New College on its merger with Otley College
- advising on sale of Linkx Systems to global packaging company WestRock
- advising on fundraising for purchase of local manufacturing company Daro Group, subsequent acquisitions and ultimate sale to Swedish listed company
- acting on the sale of the UK’s leading gas engine repair and overhaul specialists ABC Power to landfill site operator Enovert
- advising on the sale of a number of Budgens supermarkets to other retailers
- advising on sale of large local insurance group to national insurance broker
- advising on management buyout of local engineering company
- helping establish an EMI share option scheme for 20 employees and advising on subsequent sale to one of the UK's leading software companies
- advising on a number of farming partnership agreements to help create certainty for the families and their assets
Recently reported deals:
- Leathes Prior act on disposal of Pellcomp Software to the Advanced Group
- Leathes Prior advise on the sale of ABC Power to landfill operator Enovert
- Leathes Prior act on disposal of Thornton’s Budgens Belsize Park to the Kavanagh Group
- Leathes Prior act for Sellers: ‘The Richards name will live on’: Haulage firm bought out by Turners in £475m deal
- CVS acquires Animal Health Centre in Bristol
- Otley College merges with Suffolk New College
- WestRock Expands Portfolio of Automated Packaging Systems
Richard has acted for CVS on the acquisition of over 100 businesses across the country. If you are buying or selling any business, I strongly recommend Richard as the solicitor to have on your side. I say this having dealt with a great many solicitors over the years. He is clear and practical in his advice but also extremely sharp and able to negotiate the most important points in his client’s favour because he knows the sale process inside-out. Richard is completely focused on managing a deal through to a successful conclusion and is always available.
Richard and Nina have guided me, on behalf of all of us, brilliantly through a complex process, and made the process as seamless and enjoyable as possible. I can’t personally thank them enough for their amazing support and expertise.
Great Results, Good Value and High Integrity. Richard helped me through an MBO and gave solid legal advice throughout the whole process, giving me time to reflect and move forward at my pace. I will be using Richard for all other matters in the future.
I found Richard and Nina to always strike that perfect balance of taking care of my position and being practical and commercial at the same time; advising me on which issues really were worth fighting for and which ones really did not matter. They were always timely and responsive, and their proposed weekly zoom call with the buyer and their solicitors, meant that issues that arose got quickly resolved. It was a complex transaction which completed spot on time with no last minute hitches or dramas.
Highly rated. He got to the key points of the matter quickly and was very clear about the key areas to focus on.
Clients have said that he is an excellent commercial lawyer and would recommend him to anyone in need of corporate advice.