Scottish-headquartered UK law firm Shepherd and Wedderburn has reported growth of 7% in turnover to £71.4 million for the year to April 30, 2024.

Net profits at the firm grew 12% to £30.2 million.

In recognition of the firm’s strong performance, a bonus of 5% of annual salary was paid to all employees.

Over the past year, Shepherd and Wedderburn advised on many significant deals and other work.

Notable deals over the past 12 months included:

• Assisting Lone Star, the global investment firm, in the acquisition and financing of Union Square Developments Limited, the owner of Union Square Shopping Centre in Aberdeen, for £111 million.
• Advising BayWa r.e. UK in the £40 million project financing with National Westminster Bank plc for the Broken Cross Wind Farm.
• Acting for The Scottish National Investment Bank on a number of equity investments, including its landmark £16.7 million investment into the UK spaceflight company Orbex and its £18 million follow-on investment alongside BGF, into Trojan Energy.
• Acting on behalf of Global Infrastructure Partners in the property aspects of the sale of a 50.1% stake in Edinburgh Airport to Vinci Airports for £1.27 billion.
• Acting as Scottish counsel on Chart Industries’ acquisition of Howden, a global provider of air and gas handling products and services, from affiliates of KPS Capital Partners, LP, for $4.4 billion.
• Acting as Scottish counsel for Devro on its acquisition by SARIA.
• Advising ESR Europe on its acquisition of the London & Scottish Property Investment Management Group.
• Acting for Investec on the establishment of REALIS, a UK real estate equity fund, and assisting with the fund’s first investment.

Shepherd and Wedderburn Managing Partner Andrew Blain said: “I am pleased we have delivered strong financial growth this year and increased revenues for the seventh consecutive year.

“We have made significant investments in key sectors and practice areas, and it is rewarding to see our strategic initiatives yielding positive results, particularly in our clean energy and real estate practices as well as our pensions and private wealth teams.

“We are grateful to our clients for their support and for continuing to place their trust in us.”

The firm last week announced the arrival of Craig Whelton and Claire MacLean as partners with a wealth of experience in the clean energy sector, further strengthening the firm’s offering to clients. The pair joined from Burges Salmon.

During the financial year, Shepherd and Wedderburn also welcomed a further three new lateral hire partners: Sam Clarke in the banking and finance practice, Jamie McRorie in the regulation and markets practice, and Morag Hutchison in the employment practice.

In addition, in May the firm promoted two colleagues to the role of partner and seven to the role of legal director, demonstrating the firm’s strategic commitment to talent and career development.

The firm’s private wealth and tax team also maintained its prestigious Band 1 ranking in the Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2023.

Blain added: “With the recent lateral partner announcements strengthening our market-leading clean energy practice and additional strategic investments to be unveiled in the upcoming months in key areas, we are optimistic about the future and look forward to continuing to work with our clients in the months ahead.”