Venture Capital Trusts and EIS

Howard Kennedy is the UK’s leading Venture Capital Trust (VCT) law firm and sponsor, having acted as legal adviser and/or sponsor in over 80% of all public offer VCTs launched in the 2018/19 tax year.   

We are uniquely placed within the market in which you operate, not only due to our extensive experience and ability to act as both sponsor and legal adviser, but also because our team members hold positions on the Association of Investment Companies' VCT Technical Committee and the board of the EIS Association.

We have taken a considerable number of investment entities to the main market through our wholly owned FCA authorised subsidiary, Howard Kennedy Corporate Services LLP, which has been active in the market place since 1997, listing well over 150 companies and advising on VCT fundraisings with a value of over £3bn over that period.

We currently act for nine of the top ten VCT managers in terms of total VCT funds under management.

The firm has been shortlisted for “Funds team of the Year” at the prestigious Lawyer Awards for the last three years.

In addition to our market leading experience in the VCT industry we have been active advisers on all aspects of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) since its inception.

We have advised on a large number of fundraisings under the EIS for start-ups (using the Seed EIS), established EIS fund managers launching discretionary managed EIS fund platforms and secondary EIS fundraisings for established companies.

We are also expert at providing general corporate advice throughout the life cycle of an EIS investment to fund managers or EIS companies, including regulatory compliance help, corporate governance assistance, advice on mergers, acquisitions and disposals and ultimately advising on exits through a trade sale of the EIS business or an IPO on the capital markets.