Meet Steven
I am co-founder and Managing Director of Lawrence Stephens and bring with me over 30 years of legal experience.
I have carved out my position by acting for large corporates and owner-managed businesses, as well as establishing a large client base in the regulated and non-regulated banking and secured lending market.
My main practice has evolved from corporate and commercial law to include banking and other forms of lending. My corporate advice covers mergers and acquisitions, business acquisitions and disposals, management buy-out and buy-ins and private equity transactions. My commercial practice largely focuses on joint venture and shareholder agreements, loan notes, and franchise agreements.
In my banking and secured lending practice, I advise regulated and unregulated lenders and borrowers who operate primarily in the real estate market in connection with loan facility agreements (including Loan Market Association documents), security documents and intercreditor deeds.
I focus, in particular, on entrepreneurs and owner-managed businesses who are looking to establish, fund, grow and ultimately exit their businesses.
As a business owner myself, I believe my greatest asset to be an ability to understand my client’s businesses and key objectives through both an entrepreneurial and commercial lens. My open-minded and approachable manner ensures objectives are met within the desired timeframe. This largely comes down to my commitment to working collaboratively with clients — a feature I have taken care to embed into Lawrence Stephens’ approach.
In my spare time, I enjoy attending Spurs matches, the theatre, and have recently discovered exercise. I have a wife and three daughters and am based in London.
Experience highlights
- Acting for the owners of a car bodyshop repair business trading from in excess of 10 sites on the sale of their business by way of a trade sale to a competitor
- Acting over the last 2 years on more than 50 corporate acquisitions for a large investment fund engaged in a “buy & build” strategy for the fund’s four portfolio companies, which companies are acquiring business in the following sectors: (i) dental laboratories (ii) risk and compliance, (iii) energy efficiency, and (iv) procurement
- Acting on a £10m fundraise from Investec in order to fund the client’s acquisition strategy
- Establishing a large number of employee share option and employee growth share schemes for businesses engaged in various sectors as a means of incentivising and retaining key staff pending an exit
- Acting on the sale of a large number of companies engaged as property-holding single-purpose vehicles
- Drafting a full suite of loan facilities and security documents for companies establishing as regulated and unregulated lenders in the bridging and buy-to-let markets
