"As MBM Commercial (as it became known more recently) had been my legal advisors on all matters commercial as well as providing any personal legal support required, it was a natural move to ask them to represent myself and the sellers in the sale of McKinnon & Clarke.

Sandy Finlayson and I had had a number of dealings over the years and I found that I could trust his judgement – and this would be a key requirement in the months to come, if we were to arrive at ‘Completion’.

The complexity of the deal slowly became apparent to me as matters progressed:

• The Group operated on the ground in 14 countries primarily in Europe and Asia. Both Legal and Financial Due Diligence would be heavily affected by this fact.
• There were many shareholders of different types; Ordinary Shareholders, Employee Shareholders, Option holders, as well as an ESOT scheme driving the issue of shares to any staff member on the basis of preset performance thresholds.
  
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