Karen was made Partner in January 2022 and heads up the Corporate & Commercial team. She specialises in all aspects of non-contentious company transactions including mergers, acquisitions and sales. She can also assist with internal company reorganisations from share exchanges or share buybacks, to capital reduction demergers.
Karen was individually recommended for the second year running as a 'rising star' in her field, one of only five lawyers in the region, in the 2020/21 Legal 500, an independent guide to law firms.
Work
Karen completed her training contract at Frettens to qualify as a solicitor and became an Associate in our Commercial Team. As part of her journey to becoming a solicitor Karen completed an LLB law degree at the University of Surrey and the Legal Practice Course at the London College of Law.
In 2018, the firm opened a new office in Ringwood, expanding its corporate reach into the New Forest. Having previously been based in Christchurch, Karen moved over to Ringwood to lead the team there and Frettens’ commercial presence in Ringwood and beyond is now strongly recognised. This has lead Karen to become the Head of Corporate & Commercial and now oversees both offices as a Partner of the firm.
Karen has a wealth of experience in a variety of commercial contracts, covering areas such as terms and conditions, franchising, shareholder, partnership and LLP arrangements, personal guarantees, facility and security related agreements and joint venture development agreements.
Karen has developed a niche expertise and reputation for the sale and acquisition of veterinary practices, acting for existing shareholders in a number of sales, to national consolidators. Karen is also particularly known for assisting on similar transactions within the funeral sector.
Experience
- Working in conjunction with the firm’s specialist Social Housing Team, by leading on several complex and high-value matters, including on the sale of the entire issued share capital of a property development SPV, with a value of c.£6.5m, to a private funder.
- Advising a major corporate shareholder based in the Netherlands on the sale of shares for an English based management consultancy business, deal worth c.£2.5m.
- Acting on a sale of the entire issued share capital of a veterinary company to a national consolidator, deal worth c.£12.3m.
- Ongoing corporate support to a major property company with a multi-million pound portfolio of residential and commercial properties, including company buybacks, exiting the majority shareholder and associated company re-organisation work.
- Ongoing advice to a tech investment group relating to multiple investments in the technology and IT sector.
Play
Karen is usually busy raising her young (energetic!) children and loves spending time with family and friends. She enjoys kayaking on the river, running and generally being outdoors.