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Gráinne Walters

Partner - Head of Corporate & Commercial Team


Gráinne's Teams

Corporate & Commercial, Agriculture


Profile/Experience

Gráinne is a partner and Head of the Corporate & Commercial Department at Lanyon Bowdler. Gráinne is recognised in the legal market as the leading corporate lawyer in the Shropshire and Herefordshire region, as well as a competitive figure in the wider West Midlands.

Gráinne rejoined Lanyon Bowdler in 2014, having trained with the firm and then moved to London. In 2015, she took over as Head of the Corporate & Commercial Department and since then, has built a leading reputation for herself, and the team, in the local corporate transactional market.

During her city career, Gráinne developed her specialism in corporate finance advisory and transactional work for private companies and growth companies. She also spent time working in-house for Cable & Wireless and advised on various corporate and commercial matters whilst on secondment there.

Gráinne’s experience includes mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, private equity investments, corporate reorganisations and succession planning, routinely acting on complex multimillion pound transactions for a range of clients across a broad spectrum of industries.

Gráinne’s expertise extends to drafting and negotiating high-end commercial contracts, encompassing not just trading documents, but international distribution and agency agreements, supply agreements and banking and security documents. She is trusted adviser to a number of commercial clients and enjoys supporting those clients on all aspects of their supply chain.

Gráinne is a Governor of Shrewsbury School, a leading independent school in the area and indeed nationally. Gráinne is a member of its International Development Committee which involves overseeing its portfolio of established schools in Hong Kong and Bangkok and the development of the school’s overseas profile. This provides her with invaluable personal insight and experience which she can apply in relation to her education clients and also to her clients’ outbound investments and acquisitions internationally.

Podcast

In this episode Gráinne talks about the importance of putting a shareholders agreement in place at the outset of a new business partnership. Explaining the differences between directors and shareholders, and how a shareholders agreement can detail how a shareholder can be part of the management of the business. 

Legal 500 & Chambers UK Recommendation

Gráinne is recognised as a Recommended Lawyer in the 2024 edition of The Legal 500, which sates: Shrewsbury-based Grainne Walters is an ‘excellent’ adviser whose wide-ranging client base spans the consumer goods, education, care, and industrials sectors, to name a few. ‘Highly experienced and extremely knowledgeable’. 

Client testimonial from the 2024 edition: ‘Grainne Walters is excellent and a pleasure to work with.’

Testimonials from 2023 included:

‘Gráinne Walters is absolutely fantastic: understands the broader commercial picture and offers useful insight above and beyond legal considerations. A great negotiator, proactive, and actively helps move the process forward. She’s become our go-to lawyer for all new transactions, trusted and reliable, not to mention great value for money.’ 

'Gráinne Walters has been instrumental in guiding me through some difficult share transfer deals, providing innovative solutions and liaising seamlessly with my accounting advisor to create a driving force to ensure that other parties are confident in the arrangements being made. I rely on and recommend her capabilities fully.’

The 2023 Chambers UK have ranked Grainne in Band 3. Gráinne serves as the head of Lanyon Bowdler Solicitors corporate and commercial team. She has noteworthy proficiency in M&A transactions involving complex property, employment and financing issues. The 2023 Chambers UK states 'She is very innovative, client-focused and has delivered complex arrangements in a timely and cost-effective manner.' Also metions 'Gráinne's advice and support has been exemplary. Her knowledge and experience has enabled us to progress sometimes complex commercial matters effectively and efficiently. She has a sharp mind and is a great commercial lawyer.'

Previous directories state,  A ‘regional firm with a surprisingly broad scope of capabilities’, Lanyon Bowdler’s corporate and commercial team is led from Telford by Gráinne Walters, a go-to for ‘complex and nuanced matters’. Her practice is centred around M&A, joint ventures, succession planning, corporate reorganisations and private equity investments in addition to international distribution, trading and agency agreements, among other forms of commercial contracts.' 

Published testimonials from a previous edition state: 

"Gráinne Walters has an excellent knowledge and understanding, with the ability to address every skill level without 'dumbing down' the content."

"Gráinne Walters is a consummate professional who doesn't give us a hard sell, makes efficient use of time and resources and is a pleasure to deal with."

Client Testimonials

We are particularly impressed with the quality of work, the speed and excellent communication received from Gráinne Walters. Her professionalism was outstanding, whilst remaining understanding and patient. 

- Allenby Douglas Limited, Oswestry

Gráinne was fantastic through the whole enterprise! Full marks.

- Mr D T Ritchie & Mrs S Lucy, Shrewsbury

Extremely efficient when dealing with a company transfer arrangement that was far from straight forward. Very pleasant team led by Grainne.

- Mr D & Mrs S Ford, Surrey

Responsive, proactive service. Grainne added great value to this vital transaction.

- Nomad Energy Solutions UK Ltd, Edinburgh

Grainne understood the sale process and idiosyncrasies of our sector quickly. Good questions were asked and I always felt there was momentum from our side to get the deal done.

- Mr W Willis, Cheshire