• A truly “sexy” deal for Goodman Derrick LLP
  Goodman Derrick LLP acted for Joseph Corré, co-founder of Agent Provocateur, the luxury brand lingerie retailer, when he and Serena Rees sold their majority stake in the business to 3i, Europe’s leading mid-market private equity company.
  
  Corporate Partner Tanya Shllingford lead the Goodman Derrick team which included fellow corporate partner David Edwards, property partners Simon Catt and Guy Martin and the firm’s head of employment, Helen Wyatt.
  
  Agent Provocateur was founded in 1994 by Joseph Corré and Serena Rees and has firmly established itself as a leading player in the luxury brand lingerie market. The brand is known for its edgy, yet fun, image and has consistently been voted one of the UK’s top 10 cool brands.
  
  
• Goodman Derrick LLP advised Galenica Group of Switzerland on its acquisition of Equazen Nutracaeuticals Limited, the makers of one of the UK’s best-selling omega 3 and omega 6 food supplements.

As from 1 December 2006, Galenica takes over the entire share capital of Equazen Nutracaeuticals Limited. This acquisition will give Galenica a significantly increased presence in the British “over the counter” market, moving it into the top 15 OTC healthcare companies in the UK.

With the acquisition of Equazen, the Galenica Group expands its product portfolio in the UK and continues the internationalization of its OTC business. Galenica’s well-established international distributor networks will ensure that the commercial potential of Equazen’s leading brand, EYE Q, can be fully exploited in the 17 markets in which a presence has already been created as well as accelerate the roll out into other markets.

Goodman Derrick LLP has acted for Galenica for over two years. In respect of the acquisition of Equazen, we advised Galencia on the structure of the deal, existing distribution agreements and transfer of intellectual property rights including trademarks in Equazen’s products.

• Collectors cars and motor sports - Goodman Derrick LLP partner Martin Emmison specialises in transactions and disputes in the historic car field and reports here on the new papers you need to race in Europe and here on the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile's Heritage Certificate.
  
  
• Collectors cars and motor sports - Goodman Derrick LLP partner Martin Emmison has had the honour of being quoted in the New York Times on 14 th June 2004 by Jim Motavalli in his article "When the numbers don't add up". Martin has a niche motor practice which deals with cross border sales and exchange of very expensive vehicles together with import, taxation and registration issues. The article is available on the newspaper's website.
  
  
• Tanya Shillingford and Robert Macro of Goodman Derrick LLP's corporate department together with Mark Kendrick of the firm's property department recently acted for The Financial Services Skills Council. The company has obtained the licence to operate as the skills council for the financial services sector from the Sector Skills Development Agency. This continues Goodman Derrick LLP's relationship with the sector's education and training body as the firm has acted for a number of years for The Financial Services Skills Council's predecessor The Financial Services National Training Organisation.
  
  
• Goodman Derrick LLP has recently acted for London Town plc the AIM listed property company in connection with its underwritten open offer to raise approximately 7.8 million pounds. Tanya Shillingford a partner in Goodman Derrick LLP’s corporate department led the firm’s legal team.

Articles

• Is the bank's loss nobody's gain? - Earlier this year the High Court handed down its decision in NatWest plc v Spectrum Plus Limited. More...
• Court of Appeal reverse judgment on fixed charges over book debts
• Personal guarantees
• Offshore report - British Virgin Islands – New legislation for International Business Companies
  The BVI Government is to introduce some amendments to the laws of the jurisdiction which will affect the way in which International Business Companies are operated. The changes will arise when the International Business Companies (Amendment) Act 2004 comes into force. More...
• Collectors' cars and motor sports - Collectible Cars regularly change hands for vast sums of money. In these circumstances it is vital to the purchaser that the car is genuine and not an overpriced doppelganger trying to steal the identity of the original vehicle. Martin Emmison examines the difficulties arising out of the issue of identity in his article “A Doppelganger Discredited” first published in the June 2004 edition of Sports Car Market. Read the article in full by clicking here.

Newsletters

• The availability of limited liability has been the main reason for the popularity of private limited companies as business media. However, there are some disadvantages to limited liability, such as public disclosure of the company's activities and a complex regulatory regime. The medium of a partnership can be more appropriate choice in certain circumstances, particularly for professional firms. However, each partner in a partnership will be personally liable for all liabilities of the partnerships and there is no limit on such liability. This has left the partnerships exposed to potentially large negligence claims and it has been a source of considerable concern to all partnerships.
  
  It was against this background that the concept of limited liability partnerships (LLP(s)) was introduced by the Limited Liability Partnerships Act (LLPA) 2000, which came into force on 6 April 2001 More...