Biography

Neil Foster is a partner in the Firm's International Corporate Practice Group. He serves as co-chair of the Global Technology group, co-chair of the Global Energy Transition group, and is a lead partner in the Emerging Growth Companies & Venture Capital group. His practice includes mergers & acquisitions, venture capital & private equity, and corporate finance. His principal sector experience is in the areas of technology and telecommunications, media and entertainment, life sciences, cleantech and energy technology.

Neil has 25 years of experience advising on complex transactions and he represents many large U.S., Middle Eastern, South African, and Asian corporations on their U.K. and European deals.

Neil has been ranked in Chambers for Corporate/M&A every year since 2010 and has been praised for his "precision, commercially dexterous advice and cross-border knowledge." The Legal 500 named Neil a “Leading Individual” for Venture Capital, and a “Recommended Lawyer” for M&A: Smaller Deals, TMT (technology, media and telecoms) and Equity Capital Markets. Clients have made the following comments in the recent guides: “Neil Foster is a credit to his profession.” “An excellent and strong leader of his team.” “They understand that for a growing start-up that legal costs can be expensive, and are always looking for ways to work together and minimise costs to help us grow and create a profitable future for all of us.” “A hard act to follow in mid-market technology M&A.”

Watch Neil's videos below on Global Corporate Venturing and the webinar he hosted with Greenbackers Investment Capital on Securing a Term Sheet.

Awards

Representation

Neil closes around twenty VC, M&A, and commercial deals each year. A selection are listed below:

Energy Tech – Advised Libertine, a developer of Linear Generator technology, on its £9 million initial public offering.

Software – Advised RealVNC, a leading provider of remote access software, on its sale to funds managed by Livingbridge, mid-market private equity investors.

Hardware – Advised Iceotope, a data centre cooling technology company, on its £30 million Series B funding led by Singapore-based private equity firm ABC Impact.

Content Media – Advised All Perspectives and its founder on the establishment, Series A and Series B financings, and launch of “GB News,” the first major news channel in over 20 years.

Edtech – Advised the Arbor Education Partners Group and its shareholder on its sale to The Key Support Services, part of the Darwin Acquisitions group.

Batteries – Advised lead investor ABB Technology Ventures in the Series A into Northvolt.

Cleantech – Advised GreenSteam on its group reorganization, redomiciliation from the Faroe Islands to the U.K., and refinancing. GreenSteam has technology for improving the fuel-efficiency and lowering emissions for maritime vessels.

IT Security – Advised on one of Europe’s largest cyber security deal, advising Sophos plc on the sale by the founders and TA Associates to Apax for $830 million.

Blockchain – Advised Confirm, an industry-leading blockchain analytics and anti-money laundering solutions platform, on its Series A and Series B financings.

Digital Technology – Advised a listed Asian corporation on the sale of two of their U.K. subsidiaries, the first being a digital optical technology company and the second being a 3D graphics semi-conductor company.

Robotics – Advised ABB Technology Ventures in its VC investment into Automata Technologies, a designer and manufacturer of robotic arms for production lines.

Content Media – Advised Acorn Media Group on the acquisition of a majority stake in Agatha Christie Limited and then on the sale of Acorn Media Group to NYSE listed RLJ Entertainment for $105 million.

Batteries – Advised Sasol New Energy on its £15 million corporate venturing investment in Oxis Energy, a U.K. batteries technology company.

Software – Advised Upside Energy on the Series A VC investment led by Legal & General Capital.

Telecoms – Advised on the U.K. part of the complex group reorganization of a U.S. cable company in Chapter 11, including the sale of U.S. and Japanese cable assets by a UK intermediate holding company, the distribution of assets to its U.S. parent and eventual winding up of the U.K. company.

Cleantech – Advised Recycling Technologies Ltd, a plastics to fuel recycling technology business, on its launch, growth, and four rounds of funding.

Autonomous Vehicles – Advised a Aviva Ventures on its Series B investment into Savari, a Silicon Valley based sensor technology company for autonomous vehicles.

Mobility – Advised Aviva Ventures on its VC investment into Outdoorsy, the U.S. recreational vehicle rental company.

Content Media – Advised a large U.S. listed group on its acquisition of a children’s television channel, and a 10-year joint venture for the distribution of children’s TV content.

Alternative Energy – Advised EVO Electric on its corporate venturing funding by and joint venture with a global engineering group.

Telecoms and IT – Advised Vodafone on its joint venture with Everything Everywhere and Telefonica for digital wallet and related products and services (Project Weve).

Life Sciences – Advised Cambridge Cognition Holdings plc on its IPO on AIM and associated fund-raising.

Telecoms Hardware – Advised Mesaplexx’s private equity owners and management on the sale of Mesaplexx to Nokia Systems & Networks.

Life Sciences – Advised Aviva Ventures on its Series B investment into Owlstone, a U.K.-based cancer diagnostics technology company.

Robotics – Advised ABB Technology Ventures on its Series A and Series B investments into CMR Surgicial, a U.K.-based surgical robotics company, now a unicorn.

*Some of the above matters were handled by Neil prior to joining Brown Rudnick.

Education

College of Law, York, Legal Practice Course
College of Law, London, C.P.E.
University of Durham, B.A.

Bar Admissions

Solicitor, England & Wales
News
Publications
Speaking Engagements
Professional Affiliations
Awards and Honors