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Julian Smith

Partner

What can I do for you

Julian is a corporate finance partner with nearly 30 years' experience and a particular focus on the health and care sector and healthtech. He works with clients embarking on major corporate projects, including acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures and shareholder collaborations.

Julian leads our award winning (Laing Buisson's Independent Sector Health Law Firm of the Year, 2022) firm-wide independent sector health and care practice and healthcare M&A practices, helping clients to navigate the opportunities and challenges of a rapidly changing sector.

Julian also steers our healthtech team working with specialist tech, commercial and IP lawyers and our teams who specialise in life sciences, medical devices, pharma and pharmacy work.

Supporting your ambitions

Julian's ability to build relationships and manage legal teams has enabled him to help clients successfully complete what have been viewed as strategic, once in a lifetime and complex transactions.

Highlights include leading:

  • Various £100m+ acquisitions for large corporates, including the UK businesses of various Fortune 500 groups
  • The team advising a S&P 500 Health Care REIT on its interests in the UK care home sector
  • Bolt-on acquisition programmes for Aspris, Keys Group, and other serial acquirers
  • Divestments for major healthcare groups including Four Seasons Health Care Group
  • Disposals/exits for entrepreneurs including leading a £700m disposal of a business based in the UK, US and various other jurisdictions
  • Healthcare legal due diligence projects supporting £1bn+ transactions in conjunction with US and other global law firms, where our understanding of the UK health sector is key

What do others say

In a recent independent client service review, a client said that she "really values his approach to team work – Julian is clearly a team player and there is no ego involved. His whole approach is based on progressing the project. He is solutions driven and has the end goal clearly in sight."

What else should you know

Perhaps a sign of the times, almost every transaction Julian has worked on in the last 18 months has been cross-border, typically advising North American acquirers of UK businesses, but also helping UK sellers leverage the international market. One transaction involved leading the legal work across eight different jurisdictions in four continents on an exit by the founder entrepreneur.

 

What our clients say about us

  • I think Mills & Reeve are a wonderful firm. The support they have provided to us in a really difficult area has been brilliant, collaborative and commercially minded. The team were absolutely wonderful and a joy to work with. Amazing advice and support and a real collaborative effort with us. I can't thank them enough for getting us through some really tough times and doing so with an amazing can-do attitude.
  • They are friendly, fast, always available and always on top of the game. I tend to judge my legal team against the other side's legal team and never doubt Mills & Reeve is the better of the two.
  • All interactions have been very clear. Responses to questions have always been very swift and unambiguous. Our company, and my family, have used various services in Mills & Reeve with the same level of satisfaction.
  • I value the fact that Mills & Reeve are recognised as a good place to work in the UK Best Companies survey. This aligns with the values of our business and means that Mills & Reeve can share what is required to achieve this status with our business.

As many clients will testify, too many lawyers deliver the required legal expertise but fail to deliver an outstanding client experience. Which is why we always listen to our clients and constantly ask ourselves what we can do to deliver the results you expect.

You expect a close and attentive working relationship, with a lawyer that is responsive and available when you need them. You also want clear, pragmatic and commercial advice tailored to your needs, and transparency and certainty on costs. We completely agree. That’s why every day, through our culture and approach we are committed to delivering the exceptional results and service our clients expect of us.

Related sectors and services

  • Health and care
  • Corporate law
  • Governance in health and care
  • Health and care - independent sector
  • Health and care: M&A and other corporate transactions
  • Health tech
  • Shareholder activism
  • Life sciences
  • Mergers, acquisitions and disposals
  • Owner managed and family businesses
  • Private wealth
  • Social care
  • Technology
  • USA