Private Equity & Venture Capital
Our private equity practice is both highly respected and active in the market. We regularly advise clients ranging from early-stage start-up companies seeking finance through to private equity institutions, family offices, sovereign funds, sellers of owner-managed businesses, lenders and management teams.
We advise on early-stage investments, investment structuring, risk mitigation, subsequent funding rounds, debt financing and equity reorganisation, as well as exits via trade sales, secondary buyouts, asset dispositions or IPOs.
If you’re an investee company, we can usually introduce you to private equity funders looking to invest in companies like yours.
We take a practical approach in advising our clients and are committed to delivering deals on time and within budget. In doing so, we provide advice that is both pragmatic and commercially sound.
Representative Private Equity & Venture Capital Work
Examples of our team’s private equity & venture capital work include:
- Advised the shareholders of a substantial hospitality chain in connection with the disposal of a 33% interest in their business to a private equity investment fund. Enterprise value £90m.
- Advised the founders and owners of Bread Holdings Limited (a high end chain of London coffee shops t/a Gail’s Artisan Bakery) on the sale, earn-out and rollover of the owners’ differing interests in the business to Risk Capital Partners. Enterprise value £23.4m.
- Advised Poncho No 8 in connection with a substantial private equity investment.
- Advised on the acquisition and financing of a controlling interest in the UK’s largest independent security services provider and the subsequent restructuring of the investment.
- Advised the shareholders of a renowned luxury silver alloy business in connection with the sale of their shares and negotiation of detailed earn-out terms.
Key contacts:
Biography
As head of the firm’s corporate and commercial practice, David’s broad transactional experience includes acquisitions, disposals, take-overs and mergers, asset sales/purchases, joint ventures and company restructuring. He also advises clients on a range of corporate and commercial matters, including company/partnership formation, partnership/shareholders agreements and employment issues.
David has particular experience in the field of sport, acting amongst others for prospective purchasers of Premiership and Football League clubs in takeovers. He is also at the forefront of the development in England of the investment in and transfer of the economic rights of sportsmen and women.
For property investor clients, he has particular expertise in the disposal and acquisition of corporate and similar structures which assist in mitigating stamp duty land tax.
David was listed as a ‘leading individual’ in the Legal 500 2020 rankings. He was also listed as a recommended lawyer in the 2024 rankings.
Representative Experience
David has experience:
- Acting for investors in the economic rights of football players playing in the Premier League and the top divisions in other European Countries as well as in South America. Over the years, David has been involved in providing advice connected with the transfers, economic rights participation and/or playing rights of various Premier League and foreign based players including Carlos Tevez, Javier Mascherano, Jo, Gonzalo Higuain, Luis Fabiano and Heurelho Gomes to name but a few. More recently David has provided advice in relation to the following players: Paulhino (Tottenham) Willian (Chelsea), Oscar (Chelsea) and Carlos Tevez (Juventus).
- Advising on a £430 million acquisition of a mixture of offshore and onshore companies owning 180 petrol stations and advising on the sale thereof three years later.
- Acting on a series joint ventures for a leading UK celebrity magazine and newspaper publisher with a combined value in excess of £280m.
- Acting for the prospective purchasers in their takeover of a Premier League Football Club.
- Advising on the £166 million sale of a group of companies with an industrial portfolio.
- Acting on the acquisition and financing of 545 public houses, worth £163 million.
- Advising on the £25 million sale to a UK plc of a leading UK independent internet service provider.
- Advising the founders and owners of a high end chain of London coffee shops on the sale, earn out and rollover of the owners’ differing interests in the business to a well known industry leading private equity firm.
- Advising the owners of a mining public relations agency on the sale of the worldwide operations to a UK quoted company.
Testimonials
‘David Salisbury is extremely personable, has an acute commercial sense and instils every confidence that he will provide sound reasoned advice with his clients best interests and not there to score points with the other side.’
Legal 500
Year qualified
Solicitor, 1992
Career History
Partner, Teacher Stern
