Aberdein Considine has boosted its Aberdeen-headquartered corporate division with the appointment of a new associate solicitor as demand for M&A advice soars.
Michael Leith joins Aberdein Considine’s Corporate and Business Advisory team spearheaded by partner Ritchie Whyte in “one of the firm’s busiest periods for M&A activity in some years”.
As well as Ritchie and Michael, the firm’s Corporate team in Aberdeen includes partner and energy sector lead Rod Hutchison and newly elevated senior associates Erin Shand and Danny Anderson, who was recognised as a Leading Associate in the 2025 Legal 500 rankings.
Michael’s appointment comes amid “another flurry” of M&A instructions scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2025, which itself comes in the wake of an extremely busy period for the firm in the lead-up to, and after, the Chancellor’s maiden budget at the end of October.
Prior to Budget Day, speculation about a rise in Capital Gains Tax fuelled a rush of eleventh-hour deals for the Corporate team to negotiate, with lawyers burning the midnight oil to help business owners hurrying to take advantage of existing tax rates in place before 30 October.
Though the anticipated CGT increase was not as significant as many had predicted, the Chancellor did announce several other tax hikes, measures and changes to reliefs, some of which are set to have a substantial impact on businesses and owners.
In particular, the increase in the rate of Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) - formerly known as Entrepreneurs’ Relief - to 14% from April 2025 and to 18% from April 2026, has focused minds over the last few months for business owners who may qualify and were considering a sale.
Aside from budget-related drivers, the Corporate team have seen growth across several of their core sectors, including energy, technology and healthcare.
Ritchie Whyte, partner and Head of Corporate and Business Advisory at Aberdein Considine, said:
“We’re very pleased to welcome Michael to the team. Michael has excellent experience in the owner managed business space in the North East of Scotland and beyond and so it is fantastic to add someone of his calibre to the team. Congratulations also go to Danny and Erin on their well-deserved promotions and we are delighted to see both continue their impressive careers with the firm. In general, the team are looking forward to continuing to support our growing client base on M&A activities and with general legal support throughout 2025.
“Looking back at 2024, there is no doubt that momentum grew throughout the year, in particular in the lead-up to the Budget, but pleasingly we have seen activity levels remain strong in Q4 2024 and Q1 2025. To some extent that has been driven by the impending increases in the BADR rate but beyond that we are seeing a strong appetite investment amongst our clients into sectors such as energy, including renewables, technology and healthcare.
“In terms of themes over the last year, there is a continued trend towards deferred payments and earn-out type structures which have proved useful when there is a gap to plug between vendor price expectations and buyer valuation. We have also seen an uptick in the use of Warranties and Indemnities insurance with insurer appetite for the SME market being strong and the cost reducing.
“Additionally, we have seen lots of discussions amongst family businesses about their future post budget, both in terms of succession planning and the potential for updated IHT panning to drive earlier exits. It is sensible of course for clients to take stock of the full implications of the IHT changes as part of a comprehensive plan but there is no doubt of the benefit of engaging early with advisers. We anticipate 2025 will be busy for us across the firm in the family and owner-managed business space.”
