Lawyers for founders

Acting for the beneficial owner of shares in a group of companies against the companies and their directors and obtaining an anton pillar order.

We helped the US-resident daughter of a successful Chilean entrepreneur through immigration issues and residency planning, supported tax and reporting efficient giving from her father, and provided cross border structuring advice.

We investigated the circumstances of a client who was a Brazilian entrepreneur investing in the United States. We determined that he had inherited United States citizenship from his parents but had never filed US income tax returns or reporting forms. We quickly and efficiently addressed the noncompliance by entering him into the IRS offshore streamlined program.

Represented a Canadian native and prominent fashion designer in immigrating to the United States. We helped the designer create her entrepreneurial business structure and supported her brand through multi-jurisdictional intellectual property advice to protect the trademark and key designs. We continue to provide employment and commercial advice as the business grows.

Our client is a prominent Canadian entrepreneur with US ties, who we have advised for over a decade. Amongst an array of legal services, this has included coordinating her worldwide succession planning structure and advising on postnuptial co-ordination for her second marriage to protect her substantial global business interests.

Acting for a Russian industrialist in defence of claim for enforcement of a US$30 million Russian default judgment and successful appeal to the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) Court of Appeal and the UK Privy Council.

We represent Russian businessman Vitaly Archangelsky in a dispute with a Russian bank in relation to a port terminal in St Petersburg.

When he became engaged to a Swiss citizen, the son of a high-profile UK businessman asked us to help him obtain a British Passport and expatriate from the US. We were also asked to draft a prenuptial agreement. Timing was of the essence but as a global, full-service firm we created a team of immigration, family and private client lawyers to meet tight deadlines.

Candy Crush Saga was one of the major global success stories of the free-to-play mobile device games, with more than 93 million players worldwide. We are proud to have acted for the founders of the company that owned it, King.com, in the high-profile sale of their business to Activision Blizzard for US$5.9 billion, achieving a very satisfactory outcome for our clients.

We used our experience of working with entrepreneurs to help the founders of a food business providing goods to UK high-street retailers as they sold their company. Our lawyers assisted with the commercial aspects of the sale to a private equity firm, handling complex UK remittance tax issues and US tax issues. We were also involved in our clients’ reinvestment in a new holding company.

When the founding principals of two of London's largest hedge funds turned to Withers for help devising a more integrated approach to tax structuring in the UK and US, our international knowledge and global reach made us ideally placed to help. We came up with the most efficient strategy and also advised them on effective estate planning, whether or not they stayed in the funds.

Withers was called in when the partners of a large financial services company needed to review its structure and convert to a limited liability partnership. Our team undertook a detailed review of the business and its assets. We then advised on a fresh strategy, taking into account the personal tax profiles of the partners, relevant regulatory issues and risk management. We also helped with succession planning and the company's future goals.

When the founders of a highly successful software company decided to sell the business to one of the world's largest equity houses, Withers was on hand to make sure the deal ran smoothly. We devised a tax-efficient exit for the founders and reduced their exposure to any future disputes, should they arise. Since the deal was completed, the founders have also come to us when they wanted to reinvest the sale proceeds into new ventures.

The founder of this highly successful online clothing retail business wanted to sell a large stake to a leading luxury goods conglomerate. As the go-to law firm for fashion entrepreneurs, Withers was brought in to ensure that the value of our client's stake was protected and negotiate a fresh incentive package. We then worked to achieve a tax-efficient strategy for the disposal of part of the founder's interest.