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Leading ECM lawyer joins CMS as partner in London

27 April 2020

International law firm CMS is pleased to announce the appointment of Charles Howarth as a partner in the firm’s Corporate team based in London. Charles joins from Herbert Smith Freehills where he led the equity capital markets (ECM) practice. 

A leading ECM lawyer, Charles has extensive experience advising companies and investment banks on capital markets transactions in the UK and worldwide, including initial public offerings (IPOs), rights issues and secondary market offerings and share placings.  

Charles has represented a range of issuers and investment banks including Bank of America, UBS, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Numis and Stifel on transactions such as the IPOs of AIB and Energean Oil and Gas and Unite Group on its capital raising and consideration share issue for the purchase of Liberty Living. He is ranked in Chambers and The Legal 500 and has been praised by clients for being “very level-headed, commercial and very collaborative” and “a go-to partner for large deals”.

Iain Newman, Co-Head of Corporate at CMS, says: “We are delighted to welcome a talented and respected lawyer of Charles’ calibre to our team and look forward to working together to strengthen further our ECM franchise in the market. We are expecting increased ECM activity over the coming months and it will be a privilege to have Charles on our team to take advantage of these opportunities.” 

Charles comments: “I am excited to join CMS’s thriving corporate practice and look forward to working with the team in the UK and across Europe. This move is a great growth platform for my practice as we help clients navigate new challenges and opportunities in the short term in the wake of the COVID19 crisis and in the recovery that will follow.”  

CMS has a leading ECM team representing a wide range of issuers and investment banks and was ranked as joint most active legal adviser in 20201. The team has advised on a spate of fundraisings since the COVID19 outbreak with five transactions in a single week including an £82 million placing by Big Yellow Group and £100 million fundraising by Blue Prism.