Browne Jacobson expands banking team with former Deutsche Bank lawyer hire

Browne Jacobson has grown its banking team with the appointment of Associate Emma Hopkinson.

Emma joins from Deutsche Bank in Birmingham where she managed the Bank’s Institutional Client Group and Commodities legal team, with a particular specialism in over-the-counter derivative contracts. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Emma spent over six years in the finance team at DLA Piper in Birmingham.

Emma has significant experience in both domestic and international finance work, having acted for banks, borrowers and venture capitalists amongst others on a wide range of transactions.

She joins a six – strong banking team which has extensive expertise in all aspects of banking and finance from corporate lending transactions, real estate financing, acquisition and leveraged finance to asset based lending, debt re-financing and restructuring work.

The team acts for a wide range of public and private sector clients including some of the UK’s leading banking institutions, local authorities, foundation trust and registered social landlords.

Recent deals the team has acted on include the secondary buy-out of Wolverhampton-based water cooler service provider Angel Springs, the £6.5m buyout of Walsall based Mackwell Electronics and the £15m mixed use retail and leisure scheme in Llanelli, Carmathenshire.

The appointment follows a successful year for the firm in which turnover rose by 17% to a record £41.3m. The year on year increase was the highest recorded by Browne Jacobson for over a decade and has been delivered without acquisition or merger.

Paul Ray, Head of Banking at Browne Jacobson, commented: “We are delighted to have someone of Emma’s calibre join the team. Her experience across a wide range of banking and finance transactions will be a significant asset and we look forward to her using her expertise in the further development and growth of the team.”

Emma Hopkinson added: “I am excited to be joining Browne Jacobson and looking forward to be part of a growing firm. The firm’s credentials across both the public and private sector is a real strength and its long term growth prospects makes it an exciting time to be joining the firm.”