A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry.

Travers Smith LLP has advised longstanding client HSBC Innovation Bank on the financing of Battery Ventures’ acquisition of Signal AI, an AI-powered global risk and reputation intelligence platform.

Travers Smith LLP has advised the senior management team of Heywood, a leading provider of pension technology solutions, on the investment into Heywood by Keylane, a leading European provider of pension and insurance technology. The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

Travers Smith has advised long-standing client Marshall Group on the sale of Marshall Land Systems Limited to Flowing River Capital, an indigenous-owned and led investment firm based in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Travers Smith LLP has advised long-standing client Investec Alternative Investment Management (“IAIM”), a subsidiary of Investec Bank plc (“Investec”), on the successful launch of Investec’s inaugural European senior debt fund, Investec Senior Debt Fund I (“SDF I”, the “fund”), a private credit fund with approximately €400m of investable capital managed by the Investec Direct Lending team.

Travers Smith LLP has advised Fairfax Financial Holdings ("Fairfax") on its acquisition of MW Eat and its subsidiaries, Masala Zone and The India Collection.

Travers Smith LLP has advised Adelis Equity Partners and its portfolio company Bryntum, a leading provider of advanced web components for scheduling and project management, on a partnership with AG Grid, a leading provider of high-performance data grids and charts for modern web applications, to create the globally leading provider of high-quality web components.

On 20 November 2025, the European Commission published its final legislative proposal to update the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), commonly known as SFDR 2.0. 

The OECD has updated its model double tax convention (the Model Treaty), and in doing so, has amended its guidance on when a home office of a team member can generate a taxable presence of the foreign business for which they work. Businesses with remote workers will want to ascertain whether the relevant tax authorities will change their practices in line with the new guidance and, if so, confirm that their policies on remote working remain appropriate.

Travers Smith has advised Global Guardian, a leading international risk management provider, on its acquisition of Solace Global Risk, a premier travel risk management company and proprietary technology platform. 

This article was first published on Global Investigations Review in October 2025; for further in-depth analysis, please visit GIR The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations - Edition 10.”

In this edition, we look at the prospects for data centres in the UK, what to watch out for in the Budget and whether EU objections could derail UK planning reforms. We also discuss the clean energy aspects of the UK's Industrial Strategy, the impact of consumer law on the energy and infrastructure sectors, recent developments in sustainability reporting and the National Underground Asset Register.

Observers of, and aspiring participants in, the UK stablecoin market have needed deep wells of patience. In case this has slipped readers' minds, His Majesty's Treasury (HMT) has not actually yet laid the secondary legislation bringing cryptoassets, including stablecoins, into FCA regulation.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published a  thematic review of the accounting policies of 20 listed companies from a variety of sectors to identify (i) areas of good practice (ii) where there could be improvement and (iii) common pitfalls when applying IFRS 2. Its key observations are:

Travers Smith LLP has advised David Lloyd Leisure's ("DLL") senior management team on the investment into DLL by a newly established continuation vehicle ("TDR Capital Titan").

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry.

A recent Court of Appeal decision has highlighted the risk of entering into a contract via informal channels such as WhatsApp, emails, text messages and phone calls, before any formal written agreement has been drawn up. We look at how to ensure that you're not committed until you're actually ready to be legally bound.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA") published its draft revised guidance on merger remedies on 16 October 2025 (the "Draft Guidance"), proposing updates to its approach to the selection, design and implementation of remedies in merger cases. The consultation is open until 13 November 2025, with final guidance expected to be in place later this year.

The New Towns Taskforce (the "NTT") recently issued its much-anticipated independent report to government on the sites which it proposes for designation as new towns. In this briefing we explore its report and the challenges that implementation will face.