Neil Foster is a partner in the Firm's Corporate Practice Group and Global Co-Chair and European Head of Technology. His practice includes mergers & acquisitions, venture capital & private equity, and corporate finance. His principal sector experience is in the areas of technology and telecommunications, media and entertainment, life sciences, and energy technology.
Neil has 25 years of experience advising on complex transactions and he represents many large U.S., Middle Eastern, South African, and Asian corporations on their U.K. and European deals.
Neil has been ranked as a "Leading Individual" by Chambers UK for Corporate/M&A every year since 2010 and has praised Neil for his "precision, commercially dexterous advice and cross-border knowledge." The Legal 500 UK has described Neil as "a hard act to follow in mid-market technology M&A."
Links to Neil’s recent Q&A with Aimava CEO Andrew Gaule on “Directors Role, Legal Aspects of CVC and COVID-19 Crisis” and his Global Corporate Venturing panel on “COVID-19 Crisis in the UK and Europe & Available Aid for Portfolio Companies” can be found below.
Awards
Representation
Neil closes around twenty VC, M&A, and commercial deals each year. A selection are listed below:
Content Media – Advised All Perspectives and its founder on the establishment, financing, and launch of “GB News,” the first major news channel in over 20 years.
Edtech – Advised the Arbor Education Partners Group and its shareholder on its sale to The Key Support Services, part of the Darwin Acquisitions group.
Cleantech – Advised GreenSteam on its group reorganization, redomiciliation from the Faroe Islands to the U.K., and refinancing. GreenSteam has technology for improving the fuel-efficiency and lowering emissions for maritime vessels.
IT Security – Advised on Europe’s largest private equity deal in the IT sector in 2010, advising Sophos plc on the sale by the founders and TA Associates to Apax for $830 million.
Digital Technology – Advised a listed Asian corporation on the sale of two of their U.K. subsidiaries, the first being a digital optical technology company and the second being a 3D graphics semi-conductor company.
Content Media – Advised Acorn Media Group on the acquisition of a majority stake in Agatha Christie Limited and then on the sale of Acorn Media Group to NYSE listed RLJ Entertainment for $105 million.
Alternative Energy – Advised Sasol New Energy on its £15 million corporate venturing investment in Oxis Energy, a U.K. batteries technology company.
Telecoms – Advised on the U.K. part of the complex group reorganization of a U.S. cable company in Chapter 11, including the sale of U.S. and Japanese cable assets by a U.K. intermediate holding company, the distribution of assets to its U.S. parent and eventual winding up of the U.K. company.
Cleantech – Advised Recycling Technologies Ltd, a plastics to fuel recycling technology business, on its launch, growth, and four rounds of funding.
Autonomous Vehicles – Advised a U.K. corporate VC on its Series B investment into a Silicon Valley based sensor technology company.
Content Media – Advised a large U.S. listed group on its acquisition of a children’s television channel, and a 10-year joint venture for the distribution of children’s TV content.
Alternative Energy – Advised a U.K. electric motors company on its corporate venturing funding by and joint venture with a global engineering group.
Telecoms and IT – Advised Vodafone on its joint venture with Everything Everywhere and Telefonica for digital wallet and related products and services (Project Weve).
Life Sciences – Advised Cambridge Cognition Holdings plc on its IPO on AIM and associated fund-raising.
Telecoms Hardware – Advised Mesaplexx’s private equity owners and management on the sale of Mesaplexx to Nokia Systems & Networks.
Life Sciences – Advised a U.K. corporate VC on its Series B investment into Owlstone, a U.K.-based cancer diagnostics technology company.
Robotics – Advised ABB Technology Ventures on its Series A and Series B investments into CMR Surgicial, a U.K.-based surgical robotics company.
*Some of the above matters were handled by Neil prior to joining Brown Rudnick.
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