Expertise
Our Financial Institutions Group unites lawyers with extensive industry experience, corporate transactional experience and regulatory knowledge who are focused on advising financial institutions.
Financial institutions are operating in a dynamic and rapidly changing environment. As a consequence of the global financial crisis of the last decade, governments and regulators have become much more proactive with a view to improving oversight and regulation. The operations, structure and location of regulated businesses are continuously being adapted in response to these developments.
At Matheson we believe that your professional advisers should give you a commercial advantage in dealing with these changes. We have worked extensively over many years with a broad range of financial institutions, both domestic and global, including banks, insurers and investment managers in relation to both acquisition and divestiture activities.
We believe that detailed sector knowledge is essential in providing a high quality transactional service and are involved in executing and advising on all kinds of transactions in the financial services industry - including mergers and acquisitions, strategic investments, joint ventures and reorganisations. As a result of this, we have a dedicated Financial Institutions Group comprised of a mix of regulatory and transaction focused lawyers dedicated to serving the needs of financial institutions clients.
This Group is strategically positioned to best in class advice to financial institutions undertaking M&A activity in Ireland, having advised on some of the most high-profile transactions in the market across the banking, insurance, and financial services industries in recent years.
Our Team
The Financial Institutions Group have unrivalled experience in the financial institutions M&A sector, having advised:
- IFG Group PLC on all aspects of its £206 million recommended public takeover by Epiris LLP.
- Willis Towers Watson on its $30 billion merger with Aon, the largest M&A transaction globally in H1 2020.
- Aviva on the acquisition of Friends First, a large Irish domestic life insurance company.
- Irish Life, Ireland’s largest life insurer, on the acquisition of Aviva Health and Glohealth Financial Services Limited.
- DMS Governance, a leading Funds Management Company, on its acquisitions of MDO Management Company, MontLake Funds and Oligo Fund Services.
- Franklin Templeton on its acquisition of Legg Mason and subsequent intergroup re-organisation.
- Allied Irish Banks, Ireland’s largest retail and commercial bank, on various proposed acquisitions in Ireland through auction process and otherwise.
- AmTrust on the sale of its surety and credit reinsurance operations to Liberty Mutual.
- Monument Re, a Bermuda-based asset intensive reinsurer, on the acquisition of the Irish assurance and insurance operations of Barclays plc.
- Harcourt Life on the separate acquisitions of Augura Life and Scottish Mutual International Limited, two Ireland based providers of assurance policies and pension plans.
- LCCG, a specialist European life Assurance Company, on the acquisition of IBRC Assurance Company Limited, a provider of investment orientated life assurance and pensions products.
- Battery Ventures on a significant investment in Soldo, an Irish based FinTech company, as part of its $61 million Series B fundraising round.