James West

Corporate & Securities, Private Equity, Private Equity, Funds & Investment Management

London +44 20 3130 3311

jwest@mayerbrown.com

"James West is very strong at building relationships with opposing counsel.’ He 'is highly responsive and a pleasure to work with."

Legal 500, Next Generation Partner

Overview

James West is co-leader of the Private Equity practice and has over 20 years of experience in private equity. He joined Mayer Brown over eight years ago to build the mid-market private equity offering and has taken it from strength to strength during that time. James advises clients on matters including venture and development capital, mid-market buyouts, and corporate M&A as well as working with both investors and management teams on buy-and-build strategies.

James's clients include private equity firms, hedge funds, management teams, joint ventures and both institutional and minority investors. He also regularly acts on both the buy- and sell-side of transactions. In recent years, James has advised on the acquisition of a number of technology-focused businesses, in particular in the travel industry, as well as transactions in the financial services sector, including insurance and IFAs.

Experience

Advised:

Vitruvian Partners on its acquisition of rail specialist tour operator Great Rail Journeys.
STAR Capital on STAR IV Fund’s investment in Subsea Technology & Rentals.
Mediawan on majority investment in See-Saw Films.
Splitstone Capital on its acquisition of Ecobat Resources UK Limited.
CBPE Capital on its investment in Velociti Solutions.
Splitstone Capital LLP on its acquisition of Ecobat Resources UK Limited.
Travel Counsellors, a portfolio company of Vitruvian Partners, on the acquisition of The Travel Agent Next Door.
Sienna Private Equity on the strategic partnership with Independent Talent Group Limited.

Acting for Omni on its acquisitions of:
- Datatank Limited.
- Looking Local.
Acting for Omni and Infoshare+ on
- the acquisition of Sava Technology.
- Manifest Software Solutions.
Acting for Sun European Partners on:
- its acquisition of Alton Cars.
- its acquisition of the Turners Accident Repair group.
- its acquisition of Hilton Coachworks.
- its acquisition of Fast Track Ltd.
- its acquisition of HB Accident Repair Network Ltd.
- its acquisition of Vehicle Technical Solutions Ltd.
Acting for Inspirit Capital on:
- its acquisition and carve-out of Watson Fuels.
- the sale of Inspiro Learning Limited to Beach Tree Private Equity.
- the merger of mthree and Peregrine.
Acting for Marlin Equity Partners on:
- its majority growth investment in Napier Technologies Limited.
- its majority growth investment in Radar Healthcare.
- its acquisition of EIDO Holdings Limited.
Qodea, a portfolio company of Marlin Equity Partners, on its acquisition of tmc3 Limited.
Omni Partners on their acquisition of Infoshare and CIPFA Software Assets.
CBPE Capital on its investment in Clifton Asset Management.
STAR Capital and others on its acquisition of V.Group, the global provider of mission critical services to the maritime industry.
Marlin on the investment by Eurazeo in leading global provider of expense management software Rydoo.
Omni Partners and others on the sale of the market-leading health and wellbeing benefits provider Vivup to growth equity firm, Great Hill Partners.
CBPE Capital on the sale of Perspective Financial Group to US private investment firm Charlesbank.
Travel Counsellors, a Vitruvian portfolio company, on its acquisition of travel technology platform Planisto.
Leading European hygiene specialist WEPA Hygieneprodukte on its acquisition of Star Tissue UK.
Inspirit Capital on its acquisition of emerging talent and reskill training company Wiley Edge.
Cloud Technology Solutions (CTS), a Marlin Equity Partners portfolio company, on its strategic merger with Appsbroker Ltd, a leading digital transformation consultancy.
Flexpoint Ford on its investment in the UK's first capitalised hybrid fronting insurance carrier.
Omni Partners, an investment management firm focused on private markets, on its acquisition of the LED phototherapy business, Aesthetic Technology.
Marlin Equity Partners on the acquisition of a majority stake in Cloud Technology Solutions Group -- one of Europe's largest and fastest growing Google Cloud partners.
Inspirit Capital, a UK-based PE investment fund, in connection with its acquisition of the Civil Training business of Babcock International plc.
Recipe Products Limited, trading as Curlsmith, on its acquisition by US-based Helen of Troy Limited for US$150 million.
Aurelius on its acquisition of the Lloyds pharmacy business from McKesson Corporation.
Sykes Holiday Cottages, a cottage rental agency backed by private equity firm Vitruvian Partners, on its acquisition of Forest Holidays, the UK's leading owner and operator of environmentally sensitive cabins.
Geopost, the international express deliveries arm of the La Poste group, in the acquisition of Citysprint, a leading same-day delivery company in the UK, from private equity firm LDC (Managers) Limited.
Vitruvian Partners, in its acquisition of AnyVan Group, an online booking platform that allows private and business customers to book a broad range of delivery services via their online marketplace.
Marlin Equity Partners, the global investment firm, on its majority investment in Silobreaker, a leading provider of risk and threat intelligence solutions.
Marlin Equity Partners on their acquisitions of Learning Pool, a market-leading eLearning company.
The Halifax Group in a carve-out from packaging business Sonoco to Halifax-backed Prairie Industries Holdings.
Marlin Equity Partners on its acquisition of Rydoo from Sodexo, a leading global SaaS solution for managing expense reports and business travel.
Vitruvian Partners on its investment in Sykes Holiday Cottages, the UK's leading independent holiday home provider, to fund the group's fast-growing plans for further UK and International expansion.
Aurelius Equity Opportunities in the acquisition of leading end-to-end commercial fleet management operator, BT Fleet Solutions, from BT Group PLC.
CBPE Capital in the acquisition of a majority stake in Perspective Financial Group Limited, a financial advisory aggregation business following approval from the Financial Conduct Authority.
Patrick Drahi's BidFair on acquisition of Sotheby's.
Vitruvian Partners on its acquisition of, and acquisition financing in relation to, Travel Counsellors, a UK-based travel agents network.
Halifax Group, a leading US-based mid-market private equity firm, on the sale of the Pirtek Europe to PNC Riverarch Capital, a US-based private equity firm. Pirtek Europe is the leading on-site provider of hydraulic hose replacement and associated services across Europe.
Vitruvian Partners and its portfolio company JAC Travel on its sale to Australian-listed travel company Webjet Limited for £200 million.
Aurelius Equity Opportunities, the equity investment entity of Aurelius Group, the pan-European asset manager, on the acquisition of leading UK online photo retailer Wex Photographic.
H.I.G Capital, a leading global private equity investment firm, and the management team, on the sale of Fibercore Limited, a world leader in the design and manufacture of specialty optical fiber, to Humanetics Innovative Solutions, Inc., a portfolio company of Golden Gate Capital, the private equity firm based in San Francisco.
Vitruvian Partners on the $215 million acquisition of OAG Aviation Holdings Limited, a global leader in aviation information and intelligence, from AXIO Data Group Limited.
Private equity house Vitruvian Partners on its acquisition of TotalStay Group.
Private equity house FTV Capital on its investment in UK financial services integrated technology platform True Potential.

Related Services & Industries

Services

Corporate & Securities

Industries

Publications & Presentations

Recognition

Listed as a Next Generation Partner and key lawyer for Private Equity: transactions - mid-market deals (up to £250 million). Legal 500
"James West is another key figure in the team and stood out in 2021 for his work on carve-out acquisitions. He is listed as a Next Generation Partner and key lawyer for Private Equity. The team (for us James West and Electra Callan) always perform to the highest standards and deliver to tight timelines. They have a unique ability to connect with their counterparties to ensure a seamless legal process and execution." "James West is very strong at building relationships with opposing counsel." "I worked with...James West, Electra Callan and Tarun Patel. All were exceptional." "James West is highly responsive and a pleasure to work with." Legal 500
Listed as a Next Generation Partner and key lawyer for Private Equity. "James West is an outstanding lawyer who has delivered for us time after time. No deal is too large or small. James has built strong rapport with my European colleagues who have also come to admire his energy, tenacity, flexibility and diligence. He is very comfortable with numbers and financial concepts which means our contracts are very robust time and again." Legal 500
"James West is an outstanding lawyer who has delivered for us time after time. No deal is too large or small." Legal 500

Listed as a "Next Generation Partner" and key lawyer and recommended for Private Equity. "James West [is a] guy that I trust and very much enjoy working with." James West "is strongly recommended for mid-market buyouts, venture capital work and advising both investors and management teams on buy-and-build strategies." He "is trusted and pragmatic; he is a low-ego, high-energy individual". He is also "a fantastic lawyer to work with. He is very responsive and able to address issues in a commercial way." Legal 500
Notable practitioner. IFLR 1000 – Private Equity
"Client-centric and savvy." Legal 500

Education

Nottingham Law School, LPC
University of Manchester, LLB

Admissions

England and Wales

James West

Overview

Experience

Related Services & Industries

Services

Industries

Publications & Presentations

Publications

Practice Leader Insights From Mayer Brown's James West

Differences between US and UK private equity deals

News

Mayer Brown advises Sienna Private Equity on the strategic partnership with Independent Talent Group

Mayer Brown advises Sun European Partners on the acquisitions of Fast Track (ARC) Ltd, HB Accident Repair Network Ltd and Vehicle Technical Solutions Ltd

Events

Transactional Liability Insurance Roundtable 2024

Recognition

Education

Admissions