Shoosmiths advises on sale of BRC Global Standards
February, 2017 - Nottingham, England
National law firm Shoosmiths has advised the British Retail Consortium (BRC) on their sale of BRC Global Standards to the LGC Group (formerly known as the Laboratory of the Government Chemist).
BRC Global Standards is the world’s largest provider of safety and quality standards programmes for food and non-food manufacture, packaging, storage, and distribution, and the LGC Group is the leading international life sciences measurement and testing company.
LGC Group will become the majority shareholder in the company. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed.
BRC Global Standards has, until now, been 100% owned by the British Retail Consortium, the trade association for the UK retail industry, which will retain a minority stake in BRC Global Standards and will have a seat on its Board to ensure continuity and stability for customers and specifiers.
Shoosmiths were appointed following a strategic review by the BRC to find the right majority shareholder for the BRC Global Standards business to enable the business to accelerate its transition into a Consumer and Brand Protection Solutions Leader. The Shoosmiths team was led by corporate partner Crispin Bridges Webb, supported by corporate lawyers Gareth Cook and Rick Thomas.
Helen Dickinson OBE, CEO of the BRC commented: ‘We were very pleased with the quality of advice we received from Shoosmiths. Their commitment, diligence and ability to meet very tight deadlines was hugely valuable when we only had a small BRC team involved. Advice from Crispin and his team was integral in helping to produce an outcome that met a complex set of the objectives of our key stakeholders and resulted in a seamless and successful transaction for both sides.'
Shoosmiths’ Crispin Bridges Webb, added: ‘We were very pleased to have been able to support BRC on this important deal, which has helped to ensure a great outcome for all involved. This deal demonstrates our ability to thoroughly understand the client’s needs and provide tailored, commercially sensitive legal advice to achieve the desired result. We are sure that BRC Global Standards will continue with its success under the LGC Group, and look forward to working with BRC again.’
Shoosmiths' corporate team advises public and private companies, management teams, investors and debt providers through the business life cycle. Shoosmiths work with businesses from start-up and first round finance through to mergers and acquisitions, MBO and MBI transactions, development funding and on exits, by way of sale, listing or private equity investment.
Nationally, the corporate team is ranked in first place by deal volume in Experian's 2016 UK Deal Review and Advisor League Table. The team was recognised for its mergers and acquisitions expertise at the 2015 M&A Awards, winning the Law Firm of the Year category.
The BRC was also advised by BlueBox Corporate Finance.
