Best brains in ...?

International M&A, AIM fundraisings (either IPOs or secondary fundraisings) and public takeovers.

Highlight of your career so far?

There have been several. One to pick out is having acted for NYSE-listed healthcare sector client Alere, Inc. on two large UK public takeovers in quick succession: the £70 million takeover of AIM-listed BBI Holdings Plc (2008) and the £147 million takeover of AIM-listed Concaterio Plc (2009). Both were effected by way of a scheme of arrangement.

Most challenging job you've ever done?

Acting for fully-listed automotive parts manufacturer Pressac PLC in connection with various simultaneous matters, including the (successful) disposal of its communications division via a competitive auction, the (unsuccessful) disposal of its electronics division via another competitive auction, liaising with its lending bank syndicate and advising in connection with a hostile shareholders' general meeting requisitioned by a strategic investor.

What about outside the UK?

The majority of the M&A transactions I advise on are for overseas clients including several overseas multinationals. I have a particular focus on the Nordic and Central and Eastern European regions and travel to these regions on business regularly. I have completed recent acquisitions or disposals for Inverness Medical Innovations (USA), Konecranes (Finland), PartnerTech AB (Sweden), Swedish Match (Sweden) and Compin Group (France).

What's your definition of going the extra mile?

I'd say that the easiest definition is not just answering the questions the client puts to you, but thinking up the questions he/she ought to be asking and answering those as well! In certain types of transaction - particularly IPO's and public takeovers - the client has often never been involved in such a transaction before and may never be again in their working life. I regard an important part of my role as educating them on what is involved in the transaction, what the functions of each party are and where they fit in.

Dedication to client care? Prove it!

All our major clients are invited to participate in regular client service reviews, conducted by an independent partner. But one Swedish client of mine could hardly believe it when I said that I'd like our reviewer to fly out to sit down with him in his office in Sweden.

When directors at one FTSE quoted client confided in me that they did not think their existing broker had the capacity to provide them with heavyweight corporate finance advice, I set up a series of beauty parades for them with three merchant banks and helped to steer the client and the banks through the selection process.

When the group general counsel of another FTSE quoted client phoned me up one afternoon to say that a key member of their in-house contracts team had gone on emergency sick leave for three months, I worked with fellow partners to identify a secondee and get back to the client with a financial proposal within 48 hours.

Best example of a creative legal solution?

I founded Wragge & Co's Company Secretarial Service, designed to be a centre of excellence for the incorporation of new corporate vehicles for clients, the maintenance of their statutory records and for preparing minutes of directors' and shareholders' meetings for corporate transactions. The Company Secretarial team includes chartered company secretaries and advises clients on their company secretarial practices and supplements the resources of in-house company secretarial teams by providing added resource as and when needed.

When have you ever given a client a real competitive edge?

As I act for overseas headquartered clients who are setting up business in the UK for the first time, I've gone out of my way to put them in touch with other relevant advisers and to give them access to our office facilities when visiting the UK on fact-finding missions.

What's your single greatest contribution to Wragge & Co's corporate responsibility?

I once took part with colleagues in the "Three Peaks Challenge for Sense". The event entailed climbing Ben Nevis (still snow-covered), Scafell Pike (where it lashed with rain) and Snowdon (where the mist descended) all within 24 hours!

What's been written or said about you that you're most proud of?

'Peers expressed their respect for Julian Henwood's work in leading the AIM group within the wider corporate group...' - Chambers UK