Press Release

A TEAM of private equity experts at national law firm Shoosmiths have advised world leading GeoPrediction software and consulting services business, Ikon Science Limited (Ikon Science), on its sale to Boston-based Private Equity company, Great Hill Partners (GHP).

This investment by Great Hill Partners creates the opportunity for Ikon Science to accelerate growth plans in line with customer demands and to cement their position as leaders in bringing innovative and relevant technology to reservoir characterisation and production prediction in conventional and unconventional reservoirs.

Martyn Millwood Hargrave Chairman at Ikon Science and Mark Bashforth CEO will be joined on the board by Christopher Gaffney Managing Partner at GHP and Eric Ahlgren Vice President GHP.

Shoosmiths corporate partner, Sean Wright, led the transaction with assistance from corporate partner Andrew Millar, senior associates Nina Smith and Kiran Dhesi, solicitor Marcus Adam-Tuck, paralegal Molly Cullen and trainee Ben Churchyard.

Martyn Millwood Hargrave, executive chairman at Ikon Science, commented: “We truly appreciate all of Shoosmiths great efforts in helping get this deal over the finish line – the deal was extremely complex and Sean and the team couldn’t have done enough for us. They understood the importance of this deal for Ikon Science and importantly worked very well as an extension of and complement to our own team throughout the process.

“We are very excited about this new chapter in our growth story and we will continue to focus on delivering value to our blue chip customer base and invest heavily in growing and improving data analytics, Machine Learning capability, and in product innovation to deliver high quality results where and when our customers need it. We’re very much looking forward to working with Great Hill Partners closely to accelerate our growth.”

Shoosmiths corporate partner, Sean Wright, added: "It was a pleasure to have advised Martyn, Mark and the team at Ikon Science on this deal with Great Hill Partners and we look forward to watching the company grow as a result of this investment.

“We are enthusiastic in getting to know our clients’ businesses and their respective goals. As such, we are able to work as a seamless extension of their teams. Our experience and expertise as a top-tier private equity practice mean we have the infrastructure to confidently advise on exceptionally complex transactional structures with wide shareholder bases - but it is also down to our collaborative nature and the pervading value of collaboration at Shoosmiths that we are able to deliver advice that is accurate and efficient, often working to challenging timescales to get deals over the line for our clients. This deal is a great example of that. We have enjoyed working with Martyn, Mark and the team at Ikon Science and look forward to watching the company grow with the investment of Great Hill Partners.”

This will be another significant private equity transaction for Shoosmiths this year, as the firm cements its position in the market as a leading legal firm for investor and investee advice.

Shoosmiths LLP is one of the most active UK law firms in the area of private equity and corporate M&A acting for sellers, investors and institutional funders. Nationally, the corporate team is ranked in the top four firms for deal volume for the past four years, and is also ranked top for deal volume in the South East, in the Experian MarketIQ's M&A Review.