Laytons ETL’s Equity Capital Markets team advised AIM-quoted Empyrean Energy Plc (the Company), the oil and gas development company with interests in Indonesia and the United States, on their recent share capital re-organisation in connection with a fundraising (the “Transaction”).

A Family Investment Company (“FIC”) is a private company formed with the specific intention of managing and holding investments for a single family. FICs have become a popular method of structuring wealth and passing it down to younger generations.

Laytons ETL’s Equity Capital Markets team advised AIM-quoted Empyrean Energy Plc (the Company), the oil and gas development company with interests in Indonesia and the United States, on their recent share capital re-organisation in connection with a fundraising (the “Transaction”).

Invigorating capital markets in the UK has been at the forefront of the previous and current government’s agendas. Notably the previous ‘Edinburgh Reforms’ that have set about changing the prospectus regime and the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) listing rules.

Laytons ETL’s Capital Markets team advised Tungsten West Plc (the Company), the mining company focused on restarting production at the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine in Devon U.K., on fundraising by way of adding an additional tranche F to its existing 2023 Convertible Loan Notes (CLN).

We are delighted to announce that Kathryn Beasley has been promoted to a Partner. 

The corporate team at Laytons ETL are delighted to have advised Planit Testing, an Australian headquartered global leader in quality engineering and application testing services, and part of the Toyko based NRI Group, on its acquisition of Shift Left Group, a Yorkshire based quality specialist.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming part of our everyday lives. Ranging from speech-to-text recognition, translation software, chatbots to automated stock trading, AI is helping us with decision-making.

The Electronic Trade Documents Bill, introduced on 12th October, is an incredibly important piece of legislation allowing the digitalisation of trade documents. It hopes to boost the UK’s international trade and reduce the estimated 28.5 billion trade documents printed and distributed around the globe every day.

ECCTA comes into force in stages and this article aims to provide a concise overview of what changes have been introduced, what are the upcoming changes and how to prepare for them. Organisations should be aware of these changes to ensure compliance and avoid the risks of penalties.

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (the “Act”) has introduced a number of reforms to Companies House in March this year. One of the Act’s aims is to improve corporate transparency and enhance the role of Companies House.

In our latest review we reflect on some notable developments and trends in UK corporate and commercial law.

The UK government has been exploring a programme of wide-ranging reforms to the listing regime since 2020. This was driven in part by market feedback indicating that the UK listing regime was regarded as overly burdensome and deterring companies from listing in the UK.

In the second part of our year end recap, we reflect on some of the more notable developments of the past 12 months in the areas of Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Governance and Business Crime.

The corporate finance regulatory framework is experiencing seismic shifts as the UK government looks to implement change necessitated or facilitated by Brexit and to maintain and enhance the UK’s position in the global financial marketplace. As we approach the year end, we recap on the status of some of the key changes and developments in the UK’s corporate sector over the past 12 months. 

As we enter a new year, environmental and social responsibility becomes an ever brighter light on the radar of business. A series of diverse drivers have converged to ensure that ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) has become or is fast becoming a top priority for businesses across the globe.

Our Capital Markets Briefing covers the FCA Task Force on climate-related financial disclosures, the UK Secondary Capital Raising Review, the UK Prospectus regime review and the FCA confirming that it will be extending to standard listed companies the obligation to make climate related disclosures.

In our latest briefing, we look at warranty disclosures following the recent Court of Appeal ruling in Butcher v Pike [2021] along with warranty claims and interpretation of financial caps following the High Court decision where a claim for breach of warranties in a share purchase agreement was considered.

On 15 November 2021, the government published new National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSIA 2021) guidance on notifiable acquisitions and updated guidance on what to expect when an acquisition is being reviewed and assessed.