Expertise
Matheson’s specialist dispute resolution lawyers are routinely involved in assisting in the resolution of corporate disputes, including disagreements between directors and shareholders in a business and hostile takeovers. We handle all types of actions under the Companies Acts, ranging from shareholder and boardroom disputes to investigations and inquiries.
Matheson focuses on protecting the rights and interests of its clients in complex shareholder disputes, as well as breach of warranty claims and asset purchaser / joint venture disputes, mergers and acquisitions disagreements, derivative actions and minority oppression claims. We also regularly act for Irish and multinational companies in implementing contentious and non-contentious cross-border mergers, capital reductions and schemes of arrangement before the Commercial Court.
Understanding clients’ businesses and objectives is key to Matheson’s approach. We act proactively and decisively to pursue client’s legal rights and resolve contentious issues in order to advance their best interests both in an out of court.
Our Team
- Representing majority shareholder on a highly contentious and multi-limbed dispute between the shareholders of a large private hospital in Dublin.
- Representing minority shareholders in an Irish company with significant property interests in the UK in an oppression action and related injunctive proceedings restraining the attempted removal of one of the director/shareholders from all executive functions with stg£40m of assets resulting in a buy-out.
- Advising a Canadian private equity investor and noteholder in relation to a shareholder dispute with an Irish pharma company.
- Advising majority shareholders and directors of a production company in relation to a shareholder dispute with the founder and minority shareholder.
- Representing a shareholder in connection with a highly contentious international cross-border shareholder dispute regarding a substantial aluminium investment in Russia held through an Irish registered company.
- Representing director and minority shareholder of well-known family-owned group of companies in relation a highly contentious shareholder dispute.
- Representing Royalty Pharma in litigation related to its $6.5 billion hostile bid for Elan.
- Advising Worldview Capital in its hostile bid for Petroceltic. It blocked Petroceltic from raising new equity, while it was also locked out of bond markets as oil collapsed. Worldview then bought out its debts, putting it in control of Petroceltic’s destiny, culminating in the examinership and eventual acquisition of Petroceltic by Worldview Capital.
- Advising in relation to section 450 schemes of arrangement, examples of which include Valista Limited, the acquisition of Nexvet Biopharma by Zoetis, the merger of IAWS Group plc and Hiestand and the proposed acquisition of Independent News & Media plc by Mediahuis N.V.
- Advising in cross-border mergers under the European Communities (Cross-Border Merger) Regulations 2008, examples of which include the merger of Citibank Europe plc with a number of its European sister companies, which was the first cross-border merger into Ireland, the merger of various Henkel group companies and the recent merger of a number of entities within the Standard & Poor’s group.