Mike Freer Email & Phone Number

I am a partner in our private equity team, with a particular focus on advising founders and management teams in relation to buy-outs, buy-ins, equity release deals and their subsequent exits.I lead Osborne Clarke's specialist Management Advisory Group, which brings together a cross-discipline group of expert senior lawyers experienced in advising founders and management teams on private equity transactions.My clients are often founders, owner-managers, company boards and chairs, but I also advise institutional investors and have experience on all sides of private equity transactions - this gives me a broader perspective on the issues around transactions.I have a particular focus on the ICT and managed services sectors, having advised many of the leading platforms (including Focus Group, Southern Communications, Wavenet, Connect and Babble) on their private equity backed transactions.I recognise that private equity transactions are often complex and fast-paced, but they ultimately revolve around people and relationships – whether that is a founder handing control of a company they built from the ground up to an investor, or a management team forging a relationship with an unfamiliar new investor as an existing backer exits. I believe in putting people at the centre of transactions and supporting their needs through challenging processes.My clients are the senior leaders of their businesses and industries, and I understand they need experienced, partner-led advice from a highly responsive team that has "been there and done that".I have spent time on secondment to BAE Systems and FTSE 250 packaging company DS Smith, giving me an understanding of providing legal advice in a commercial context.I joined Osborne Clarke in 2014 from international firm Eversheds (now Eversheds Sutherland).

Listed skills include Corporate Law, Mergers And Acquisitions, Private Equity, Legal Assistance, and 16 others.