As part of our Corporate Tax and M&A spotlight month through November, we thought it only right that we got to meet some of the Claritas team who lead on work with these service lines.
Meet Ses Memhi, our Transactions Tax lead, and find out more about Ses, his work motivations and a little bit about his background and why he chose a career in Tax…
Why a career in Tax?
During the final year of my law degree, I studied tax law as it naturally fed my analytical mindset which could be used to solve complicated tax law matters. My lecturer at time (who was also a practising tax barrister) commented that I was good at the subject and should consider it as a career. Law is also in the “family blood” because I have relatives who are lawyers and a relative who is a judge!
I’ve now spent 17 years in tax and I can genuinely say it has remained interesting and challenging throughout my career and I’m glad I took the advice I did many years ago.
I’m also a people’s person, so I enjoy developing colleagues and interacting with clients to help them achieve their objectives.
One question I always get asked is tax aside, what career would I have pursued? I can confidently say I would have been a DJ/music producer as music is a big passion of mine (as you will witness from zoom/team calls with me!). No boy bands allowed!
What is M&A and what role does Claritas play in a transaction?
Mergers and acquisitions is probably not an accurate description of what falls under this umbrella. It does include buying and selling businesses (both shares and assets) but I would also include matters such as company reorganisations (such as mergers and demergers of businesses), management acquisitions, transferring group assets and related stakeholder matters.
Our role at Claritas is to be involved in the early stages of such conversations with management to understand their commercial objectives. We will take on this information and use it to provide clear, practical and achievable advice. What makes us unique at Claritas is that we are very much involved throughout the whole process as we become an integral part of the whole project management aspect too, which really makes a difference to our clients.
What advice would you give to a shareholder currently considering their options on M&A?
It must come from the plans for business and the personal plans for the key stakeholders. And of course, timing (and opportunity) is everything as has certainly been the case with Brexit, Covid-19 and the dreaded fear of changes to the capital gains tax regime!
Depending on one’s plans, if you are thinking about your options I would advise that you seek the assistance of professional advisors who can help you decide whether you are in fact ready for the next step in light of the current economic conditions.
What three words would you use to describe working in M&A?
- Challenging
- Exciting
- Different
To contact Ses and other members of the Claritas Team, visit our ‘Meet the Team’ pages
