LHV Bank has appointed Harper Macleod as its primary Scottish legal adviser supporting the bank’s continued growth in Scotland’s commercial lending market, including commercial real estate, hotels, pubs and leisure.
The appointment is effective immediately and will see Harper Macleod as primary legal partner in providing legal advice on Scottish real estate and commercial mortgage transactions undertaken by LHV Bank.
The appointment comes as LHV Bank targets doubling its Scottish loan book over the coming years as part of its wider growth ambitions in the market.
Harper Macleod’s Banking & Finance team is one of the largest and most active of its kind in Scotland and advises on Scots law aspects of acquisition finance, asset-based lending, real estate finance, development finance, restructuring and insolvency.
The firms have already completed multiple Scottish transactions together with an aggregate value of around £63 million, providing the foundation for the formal appointment. Harper Macleod will now act as LHV Bank’s primary Scottish legal adviser, providing specialist legal advice and transaction execution support across a range of lending matters.
LHV Bank, a fully licensed UK bank, specialises in providing banking services for global fintechs, SME lending solutions for UK businesses, and personal savings through partnerships with deposit aggregators. Over 200 fintech companies use LHV Bank to serve more than 10 million end customers and access a pool of 500 million potential customers across the UK and Europe.
Conor McDermott, Director of SME Lending at LHV Bank, commented:
“Scotland is an important market for LHV and one where we see significant opportunities to grow our commercial lending business across real estate and trading sectors. As our activity increases, we need advisers who combine technical expertise with a commercial approach that helps transactions progress quickly and efficiently.
“Harper Macleod has already supported us on a number of Scottish transactions and has shown a strong understanding of the sort of lending we do. This appointment formalises that relationship and gives us a stronger platform as we continue to grow our presence in Scotland over the coming years.”
Andrew Ronald, Partner in Harper Macleod’s Banking & Finance team, added:
“The Scottish lending market remains active, but it is also becoming more sophisticated. Borrowers are often dealing with more complex capital structures, cross-border elements or transactions that need a more tailored legal approach.
“That places a premium on legal advisers who can combine technical Scots law expertise with a commercial understanding of how lenders want to get deals done.
“We have already worked closely with LHV on a number of transactions and know first-hand the appetite it has for the Scottish market. We are pleased to have been appointed to support that next stage of growth.”
