Overview
Melanie Wadsworth counsels clients through a wide range of corporate matters, including mergers and acquisitions, public company transactions and day-to-day compliance with English company law. Much of Melanie's work involves an international element, and she has considerable expertise in advising overseas clients as they expand their businesses into the U.K. She is a qualified solicitor in England and Wales.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Melanie advises on acquisitions, disposals, management buyouts and all other types of corporate transactions for clients ranging from Chinese state-owned enterprises to owner-managed businesses.
Public Company Transactions
Melanie has advised on the majority of public company transactions handled by Faegre Drinker's London office in the past 15 years. In addition to helping clients address day-to-day compliance and governance issues, she has advised on listings, takeovers, fundraisings, and corporate restructurings of public companies listed or incorporated in the U.K. Melanie has particular expertise in advising companies on their admission to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.
Compliance and Anti-Corruption
Melanie was a participant in the U.K. government's consultation on the Bribery Act 2010 and advises companies on compliance with the Act and other anticorruption matters. She trains clients on risk assessment and policy development in this area and advises on managing exposure to liability for the acts of third parties, including in the context of cross-border acquisitions.Services & Industries
Credentials
Education
College of Law, Chester
Aston University, Birmingham
Experience
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June 2018 1 min readFinish Line Laces Up Merger with JD Sports FashionCorporate Group Mergers and Acquisitions
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October 2017 1 min readH.B. Fuller Acquires Royal Adhesives & SealantsCorporate Group Mergers and Acquisitions
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January 2017 1 min readFreightex Acquired by UPSCorporate Group International Transactions Mergers and Acquisitions
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December 2016 1 min readZimmer Biomet Completes Public Offering of €1B Principal Amount of Senior NotesMedical Devices and Products Health and Life Sciences Corporate Group Capital Markets
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September 2015 1 min readTechnicolor Acquires London-Based The MillCorporate Group International Transactions Mergers and Acquisitions
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2013 1 min readADM Completes International Trade Receivables SecuritizationAgribusiness Commodity Production and Processing Food and Agribusiness Lending and Finance Corporate Group International Transactions
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April 2011 1 min readGraco, Inc. Acquires Illinois Tool WorksMergers and Acquisitions
Insights & Events
Latest
Insights
Other Perspectives
- Directors' Dealings and Corporate Governance
Chapter author in A Practitioner's Guide to AIM Rules, Seventh Edition, Sweet & Maxwell, 2014
Leadership & Community
Professional Associations
- Law Society of England and Wales
- Women Lawyers' Association of the City of London
- Quoted Companies Alliance — Member of the QCA Corporate Governance Expert Group which works with boards, investors and regulators to promote high-quality corporate governance by U.K. quoted companies.
Honors
- Recipient of the Freedom of the City of London
- Chambers UK — Ranked as a leading lawyer for capital markets work with AIM companies, 2015
- Chambers UK – Ranked among top lawyers in Capital Markets: AIM and praised by the sources for being "considered, efficient and incisive" and "well-known in the market", 2014
- Legal 500 UK – Ranked as a leading lawyer for flotations, 2013
- Chambers UK — Clients described Melanie as "excellent, very approachable, knowledgeable, pragmatic, commercially aware and efficient," 2013
- Legal 500 UK — Praised by the sources as "excellent" in the field of Flotations: Small and Mid-Cap with clients describing her as "experienced, unflappable, calm and hardworking," 2012
- Chambers UK — Ranked among top lawyers in Capital Markets: AIM and praised by the sources for her "excellent negotiating style that is both disarming and effective," 2012
- Legal 500 UK — Leading lawyer in Flotations: Small and Mid-Cap and described as "exceptional" in this field, 2011