On 19th November 2015, Yingke signed an agreement in London and officially announced an exclusive strategic partnership with Memery Crystal law firm. Memery Crystal is a London law firm with international expertise. Our focus is not just on the law, but on helping our clients to achieve their specific commercial objectives. Our services are led by partners who take an active interest in understanding each client’s needs and circumstances and who are committed to solving problems and delivering results as pragmatically and efficiently as possible. We act for UK corporates acquiring/investing into businesses on every continent and for clients in those jurisdictions seeking to invest in or acquire UK targets or whose agreements are governed by English law.
Practice Areas
Banking & Finance
We advise on lending across a range of instruments, from acquisition finance to corporate mini-bonds, crowdfunding and ICOs. We advise clients throughout the UK and overseas banks on loans into the UK secured on UK assets, and handle cross border security structures.
Recent banking & finance experience:
Commercial Contracts
Advise on sales and marketing, agency, distribution, licensing, franchising, sponsorship, merchandising, e-commerce, and related regulatory areas including data protection, anti-bribery, and consumer protection.
Recent commercial contracts experience:
Commercial, Media & Technology
We advise on areas including digital media, cloud computing, big data, cyber security and financial technology (fintech). We work on key issues such as intellectual property, data protection, commercial contracts and drafting and implementing digital strategies.
Recent CMT experience:
Corporate
We advise our corporate and entrepreneurial client base on all aspects of takeovers, debt, mergers, acquisitions and disposals, including acting for buyers, sellers and management teams. This experience includes private equity transactions, company re-organisations and sales, and purchases of both public and private companies.
We are also an acknowledged market leader in advising on IPOs on the AIM market and Main Market. We act for a wide range of companies, as well as for their sponsors, nominated advisers, brokers and institutional investors. Our clients include a wide range of international businesses. We represent domestic and international companies who are looking to access the UK capital markets. We’re also comfortable working on dual listings, project-managing lawyers across multiple jurisdictions.
Additionally, we act on behalf of funds, private investors and investee companies, and work with companies and management on management buy-outs and buy-ins, often involving reconstructions and reorganisations. Our client portfolio includes entrepreneurs and institutions, advising them from seed capital to development capital and eventual exit through sale or IPO.
Recent Corporate experience:
Dispute Resolution
We handle all types of commercial disputes including: claims for breach of contract, negligence, fraud, company disputes, insolvency, defamation and intellectual property disputes. We also have extensive experience of seeking injunctions to freeze assets.
We act for clients in High Court litigation, as well as arbitration under the rules of various international bodies, such as LCIA, ICC, ICSID, AAA, LMAA and WIPO.
Employment
Our Employment team acts for Employers on employee hiring and departures and on contractual and other issues that arise throughout the employment relationship. We work with companies to help set up their employment and HR structures, draft contracts and policies and work with HR and in-house lawyers in delivering the HR/employment law service to their business.
We also act for senior executives at household name companies and financial institutions, supporting them with personal employment matters such as negotiated company exits. Our work for senior executives can also involve contentious issues, such as discrimination or whistleblowing, negotiating settlements and helping protect their rights when they leave their roles.
Natural Resources
We work internationally with businesses in the oil & gas, mining and renewable energy markets. At the top-end our clients include FTSE main market-listed companies.
Our corporate finance and ECM teams advise on public and private equity and debt finance for natural resources companies and investors, as well as M&A and strategic investments and disposals. We also have the pre-eminent natural resources litigation team.
We are also the leading full service law firm advising the medicinal cannabis sector on business set up, capital markets, mergers & acquisitions, private fundraising, licensing and commercial contracts.
Recent natural resources experience:
Real Estate
Our services cover site and project acquisition, development, planning and construction, funding and tax and disposals, commercial leases, and litigation. We also undertake a substantial amount of private client property work.
Recent real estate experience:
Restructuring & Insolvency
We handle turnaround, restructuring and insolvency issues across a range of areas, including corporate collapses, commercial property, tax, and insolvency-related litigation. We advise insolvency practitioners on IVA and CVA matters as alternatives to compulsory liquidation, including disputes with creditors and other interested parties arising out of such agreements.
Recent restructuring & insolvency experience:
Retail & Leisure
Our advice covers a wide range of matters, from employment issues to event management, real estate to sponsorship, licensing to leases. We advise on a variety of issues, including the viability of investment opportunities, raising funds to expand venues and securing the best price for your premises.
Recent retail & leisure experience:
Tax
We offer advice for FTSE and AIM listed companies, entrepreneurs and UK and international businesses on a wide spectrum of tax issues. From corporate and transactional taxes, double tax treaty issues, entrepreneur’s relief and employment tax issues, to UK residents with overseas income and non-UK residents with UK property and income.
Languages
English, French, Spanish, German, Russian
Nick is head of the firm’s Natural Resources team as well as the firm’s International desk.
Nick is recommended for Mining and Minerals in the current edition of The Legal 500 UK and heads the firm’s Natural Resources Sector Group and Africa desk. Nick has worked on two of the three moves from AIM to the official list of the Main Market that took place last year. He is the only lawyer who sits on the AIM Advisory Board of the London Stock Exchange. This body assisted on the drafting of the revised rule book for NOMADs operating on AIM and the many Oil & Gas rules. Nick specialises in corporate transactions, including flotations of companies both on AIM and the Main Market. He has experience in acting for companies, nominated advisors and brokers and has advised on primary and secondary listings for many overseas companies. Nick advises on acquisitions and disposals of public and private companies as well as on cross-border transactions.
Lesley is Chief Executive of Memery Crystal. She specialises in corporate finance work including flotations and secondary capital raisings on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market and AIM. She acts for companies, nominated advisers and brokers and has acted for both UK and international companies from the US, Canada, South Africa and Australia. Lesley also advises companies on alternative forms of raising finance, including retail corporate bonds, by which UK companies raise funds directly from the UK general public. In addition, she advises on acquisitions and disposals of public and private companies as well as on cross-border transactions.
Lesley is a member of the QCA and helped to establish the QCA Nominated Advisers Committee. She was formerly Non Executive Director of an AIM-listed company and currently serves on the Operational Advisory Board of AIM-listed blur Group Plc.
Nick is Head of Memery Crystal’s Corporate Team. He specializes in M&A for both private and public companies, private equity, joint ventures and corporate restructuring.
In particular, he has considerable experience in cross border M&A acting for both UK and international clients. He regularly acts for clients in the financial services, leisure, property and chemical sectors.
Having taken a break from law to run his own business, Nick understands what is important for our clients and brings a commercial approach to transactions.
Nick has been recognised in Chambers for his M&A work.
Nicola heads our private property team who handle the commercial and residential real estate requirements of our clients on behalf of local and overseas developers, investors and lenders. Nicola acts for owners in the acquisition, development and disposal of a range of properties, including residential property, mixed-use developments, shops, restaurants and industrial and office estates. She is known for her commitment to clients and her ability to guide projects through to completion in a timely manner to meet client’s objectives. In addition, she has an established practice in the retail sector, with clients ranging from household names to smaller chains, as well as international retailers entering the UK marketplace.
Nicola has been recognised as a Leading Individual for real estate in every edition of Chambers UK since 2009, where she has been praised as “tough but charming.”
Mark is a partner and Head of Dispute Resolution. Mark is recommended for Commercial Litigation in The Legal 500. He specialises in substantial multi-jurisdictional disputes principally for clients in the financial services sector and also has particular expertise advising on complex insolvency matters. He regularly acts for brokers, hedge funds and insolvency practitioners.
A highly experienced employment lawyer, Stephen joined Memery Crystal in 2018 and is head of the Employment team. Stephen provides bespoke commercial advice to clients on their most sensitive and complex HR issues, including those arising during recruitment, departure, restructuring, investigations, and disputes. He also has extensive experience working on cross-border transactions and outsourcing projects.
He works with international and domestic companies, and senior executives, across a range of industries including banking and finance, natural resources, real estate, media and technology. Stephen also has a particular interest in sports law, being a former international rugby player.
Richard is Head of Real Estate Litigation at Memery Crystal. He specialises in all aspects of property litigation acting for landlords, tenants, developers and investors of all kinds. His experience includes acting for clients in disputes involving breach of covenant, forfeiture, rent reviews, 1954 Act lease renewals, possession, rent recovery, dilapidations, applications for consent to assign, trespass and claims with an insolvency aspect.
Richard has been involved in the contentious issues surrounding the purchase, development and subsequent management of shopping centres across the UK. He also deals with matters incidental to the occupation of property, such as noise nuisance, restrictive covenants and rights of way. In addition, Richard has a broad range of High Court experience in dealing with contractual and development disputes including claims for specific performance and injunctive relief.
Richard has been recommended for his real estate litigation work in the 2013 and 2014 editions of The Legal 500 UK, where he is praised for giving “good practical advice”.
Matthew is Head of Banking and Finance at Memery Crystal. He has extensive experience in all aspects of debt finance with an emphasis on the real estate sector covering both investment and development. He has additional specialist expertise in structured finance, including mezzanine finance. Matthew’s clients include many of the most high profile real estate companies (public and private) and property lenders in the UK. He is also known for his restructuring work, advising banks, borrowers, directors and insolvency practitioners in turnaround and insolvency work.
Matthew is a member of R3 (the association of business recovery professionals) and The Insolvency Association.
In addition, Matthew has received recognition in Chambers UK and Legal 500 for his work in Real Estate Finance.
Alastair is Co-Head of Memery Crystal’s Real Estate team. He has practiced as a property lawyer for almost 20 years and combines this with a wealth of other experience such as chairing major planning committees and non-executive property roles, with several billion pounds of UK property held in the entities that he helps to oversee. Alastair is a well-known figure in the London property scene and as such is always in demand for his views and counsel.
Alastair has been recognised in Chambers for his property work.
Tim heads the Commercial Media & Technology (CMT) team at Memery Crystal. Tim specialises in negotiating technology contracts, particularly complex and bespoke licensing deals. He has advised on technology contracts since 2001, and has wide-ranging experience in managed services/outsourcing, licensing, support/SLAs, agency and distribution, and projects.
Nick is Head of Memery Crystal’s Corporate Team. He specializes in M&A for both private and public companies, private equity, joint ventures and corporate restructuring.
In particular, he has considerable experience in cross border M&A acting for both UK and international clients. He regularly acts for clients in the financial services, leisure, property and chemical sectors.
Having taken a break from law to run his own business, Nick understands what is important for our clients and brings a commercial approach to transactions.
Nick has been recognised in Chambers for his M&A work.
Floor 19-25, Building 2 of CP Center, No. 20 Jinhedong Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100020 China
