Shoosmiths Advises Shearwater Group On Multimillion Pound Reverse Takeover
May, 2017 - Thames Valley, England
National law firm Shoosmiths has advised the founders of SecurEnvoy Limited on the sale and reverse takeover into AIM listed Shearwater Group PLC.
As the initial acquisition under Shearwater Group’s transformation strategy, the £20 million consideration was satisfied by the payment of £10 million in cash and £10 million through the issuance of 200 million Ordinary Shares of the Company at a price of 5 pence per share. The acquisition constituted a reverse takeover pursuant to Rule 14 of the AIM Rules for Companies.
The Shoosmiths team was led by corporate partner Rachel Turner with solicitor Michael Patterson and trainee solicitor Simon Chapman assisting. Tax partner Kate Featherstone and solicitor Rebecca Hawkins advised on tax and commercial solicitor Esther Wilkins on employment.
Andy Kemshall, co-founder of SecurEnvoy, commented: ‘We have worked with Shoosmiths for some time now and their organised and commercial approach was key to the successful delivery of this deal for us. I'm looking forward to working with the Shearwater team and unlocking the full potential of the SecurEnvoy product set.’
Steve Watts, co-founder of SecurEnvoy, added: ‘Thank you Rachel and Michael for representing us in this sale. A super job, well done, and we appreciate your focus and enthusiasm to get this one past the post.’
Rachel Turner added: ‘It has been a pleasure working with Andy and Steve on this deal, which for them is the culmination of years of innovation and hard work. The transaction ran relatively smoothly, which is primarily down to the excellent fit of SecurEnvoy with Shearwater Group and the shared vision for the future of the Company. We look forward to watching the continued success of SecurEnvoy following completion.’
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 MarketIQ UK & Ireland M&A league tables. The team was recognised for its mergers and acquisitions expertise at the 2015 M&A Awards, winning the Law Firm of the Year category.
