30 deals update Latest deals data from across the region


Investment by BGF into Adestra


Completion Date: 06/01/16 Target: Adestra Deal Value: Undisclosed


Details: Henmans Freeth advised Adestra in the $7.2 million private equity investment by BGF (Business Growth Fund) to help Adestra’s significant US and global expansion. Adestra is a leading provider of one-to-one email and life cycle marketing solutions for global and growing brands such as Oxfam and UBM. Adestra was a winner of the 2014 Customer Focus Award from the Customer Service Institute


Investor: BGF


Legal Advisers: Henmans Freeth (Malcolm Sadler – corporate; Claire Boyce – tax) for Adestra/management and Penningtons Manches LLP for BGF


Financial Due Diligence: BDO Nortons Practice sold to Vistra Group


Completion Date: 08/02/16 Target: The Nortons Practice Acquirer: Vistra Group Deal Value: Undisclosed


Details: Transcend Corporate advised the partners of Nortons on its sale to Vistra. Nortons specialises in helping fast-growing businesses expand operations in local markets and internationally by providing outsourced financial services. Vistra, backed by Barings Asia, operates across 39 jurisdictions, and employs 2,200 employees, providing trust, fiduciary, fund, and corporate services


Corporate Finance Advisers: Transcend Corporate (Ian Aldridge, Sabial Hanif, Raj Turna)


Legal Advisers: Moorcrofts LLP (Adrian Phillips, Amrita Bansal, Ian Hylton)


Acquisition of Simply Finance Group by John Charcol


Completion Date: 02/16 Target: Simply Finance Group Acquirer: John Charcol Deal Value: Undisclosed


Details: HMT LLP, led by partners Paul Read and Ian Barton, and senior manager Adrian Howells, undertook financial due diligence on the acquisition of Southampton-based mortgage broker, Simply Finance Group, by John Charcol, backed by Palatine Private Equity


Legal Advisers: Shoosmiths Funding: Palatine Private Equity Financial Due Diligence: HMT


Capita acquires PayPoint.net and Metacharge


Completion Date: 08/01/16 Target: PayPoint.net and Metacharge Acquirer: Capita plc Deal Value: £14 million


Acquisition of C&P Packaging Completion Date: 01/02/16 Investment in NetPay Solutions


Completion Date: 03/02/16 Target: NetPay Solutions Group Deal Value: Undisclosed


Details: Henmans Freeth advised the private investor on his investment in NetPay Solutions Group, a multi-channel payment service provider that offers a range of online processing, payment terminal and merchant services to the wholesale, indirect reseller and corporate markets


Legal Advisers: Henmans Freeth (Leon Arnold and Malin Svanberg Larsson – corporate) for the investor and Moore Blatch LLP for NetPay


Target: Colebourne & Partners (in administration) (trading as C&P Packaging) Acquirer: Integrity Print Deal Value: Undisclosed


Details: Henmans Freeth acted for the acquirer on its acquisition of the business and assets of C&P Packaging from the administrators. Integrity is the printer behind some of the world’s best known and loved brands, including Tesco, Thatchers Cider, John Lewis and the RNLI


Legal Advisers: Henmans Freeth (Leon Arnold and Malin Svanberg Larsson – corporate; Kevin Pinkerton – insolvency) for the acquirer. Michelmores (Exeter) for the administrators


Administrators: BDO (Exeter)


Details: Acquisition of two online payment businesses by Capita plc comprising PayPoint.net and Metacharge, for a consideration of £14 m


Legal Advisers: DWF LLP


Financial Due Diligence: RSM (David Copley, partner; Jonathan Wade, partner; James Harris, associate)


Next Deadline


The next Deals Update will be in our April issue


Deadline for submissions is Monday March 7 To submit deal information or to advertise on this page contact: Steve Banbury • 0118-9766414 • steve@elcot.co.uk


Elcot Publications is not responsible for the accuracy of information in the Deals Update section which is supplied by individual firms


Law firm Knights acquires Darbys Solicitors


Knights Professional Services has acquired Darbys Solicitors, underpinning its position as the fastest-growing commercial law firm in the UK and one of the top-70 law firms, with a projected turnover of £40 million.


Knights now employs more than 300 professionals across seven offices in Oxford, Stoke on Trent, Chester, Cheltenham, Derby, Hale and Colchester, and on February 8 it announced its commitment to recruit 100 new professionals in 2016, 50 of whom will be based in Oxford.


www.businessmag.co.uk


The acquisition was principally funded with the backing of Allied Irish Bank (AIB) (GB) which, in the past 18 months, has become Knights’ established banking partner. It further builds on AIB’s support of key transactions, including consolidations, in the legal sector.


The acquisition is seen as one of the biggest transactions within the regional legal scene in the past 12 months, and it creates one of the largest independent professional services firms in the UK.


David Beech, CEO at Knights, said: “This is our largest acquisition to date. Regional accountancy groups, tax specialists and real estate advisory organisations located outside of the major cities of Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, are our main focus.”


Wilson Partners negotiates sale of Reliance Fibres


Wilson Partners Corporate Finance has successfully advised the shareholders of Reliance Fibres on their sale to Ekman & Co AB.


Reliance Fibres is an international company which sources all grades of recovered paper for the paper manufacturing industry and conducts sourcing operations in the US, Europe and supply markets in Asia.


Ekman is one of the world’s leading sales- and-marketing organisations, focusing on the global forest industry covering the entire forest products supply chain.


Pankaj Chowdhary, managing director of Reliance Fibres, said: “Wilson Partners has delivered exceptional, direct, value-enhancing advice to us, and has looked after the whole transaction from start to finish.”


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – MARCH 2016


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52