Work in Private Equity and Venture Capital

We acted for Octopus Investments in its acquisition of a minority stake in BDA in return for a £15m investment from its equity and mezzanine funds.  As part of the deal, Octopus committed a further £2m funding line to support the planned international expansion of the business and to make strategic acquisitions. BDA provides promotion and design services to broadcasters and advertisers worldwide and creates brand films and internal communications for leading UK corporations. Octopus won the mandate against a number of other parties including both trade and private equity.

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We acted for selling shareholders Eclipse VCT, Electra Kingsway VCT, Matrix Income & Growth VCT, Proven Growth & Income VCT, and Octopus Nominees Limited on their exit from Gyro International, Europe’s largest integrated b2b marketing agency in a deal worth in excess of £50m.

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We acted for Ethel Austin Ltd on the equity, banking and £62m restructuring of the Ethel Austin Retail Group.  Ethel Austin is one of Britain’s leading value clothing retailers with over 300 stores located across the UK. The company and its subsidiaries were transferred to a Newco (Noteframe) which is majority owned by certain affiliates of Credit Suisse International, ABN AMRO and Eos Partners.

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We acted for the Acquisition Finance team at Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets on the acquisition of  YO! Sushi Group Limited by Quilvest Private Equity and the incumbent management team.  The timetable for the YO! Sushi acquisition was one of the most ambitious ever set for an acquisition of this scale, requiring virtually round-the-clock legal services and simultaneous work on aspects of the transaction which would normally follow in sequence. 

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