Recent corporate transactions

  1. Dennis Publishing

In August 2018, we advised the Executors of the Estate of the late Felix Dennis and Dennis Publishing (UK) Limited on the sale of the Dennis Publishing group of companies to Exponent Private Equity.

Dennis Publishing is a multi-platform international media group which owns several award winning brands, including The Week. The highly complex and landmark industry transaction included a restructuring of assets and sales of shares both in the UK and in the US.

  1. Banijay Group

We advised Banijay Group, the World’s largest independent content creation group for television and multimedia platforms, on its acquisition of production company (and recent BAFTA winner) 7Wonder Productions.

Banijay will see over 160 hours of 7Wonder programming added to its UK non-scripted slate as a result of the transaction, which is Banijay’s first non-scripted acquisition. It is also one of Banijay’s largest acquisitions in any sector to-date.

  1. Kiddyzuzaa & Wildbrain Entertainment

We advised the creators of the immensely popular family-friendly YouTube Channel ‘”Kiddyzuzaa” on the sale to WildBrain Entertainment, the American online network and content company.

We advised on the share purchase agreement, IP licence and securities agreement, and reciprocal deal protection terms including non-solicitation and non-competition.

  1. Leathwaite & Beechbrook Capital

Leathwaite was advised by We on an injection of capital from Beechbrook Capital for investment in its IP and proprietary technology Leathwaite is a leading internationally renowned firm of human capital specialists with offices in London, New York, Hong Kong and Zurich

  1. Time Out Group & YPlan

We has acted for Time Out for more than 30 years providing a broad range of corporate, employment and litigation services.

This deal was its first acquisition since its IPO, acquiring the entire issued share capital of YPlan, the “mobile-first” events discovery and booking platform.

  1. OnScroll & sovrn

We advised the co-founders of UK-based OnScroll Limited on its sale to US publisher network and advertising technology company sovrn Holdings, Inc.

sovrn plans to deploy OnScroll’s in-view ad technology across its network of publishers, as well as expanding into the UK and Europe.

  1. Keshet International & BBC Worldwide

We advised Keshet International UK, a global production and distribution media group, in a deal with BBC Worldwide, on its acquisition of a majority stake in Greenbird Media.

Keshet acquired BBC Worldwide’s shareholding in Greenbird, a media accelerator, with an impressive roster of Emmy Award winning UK-based production companies.

Keshet becomes the global distribution partner to the various production companies Greenbird supports.

  1. The Stagwell Group

WE advised Stagwell Group LLC, the digital marketing investment group, on its acquisition of London based digital marketing agency, Forward3D Group.

We negotiated the terms of purchase including foreign subsidiaries in USA, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Brazil, France, Germany and Russia.

Forward 3D Group Limited run digital marketing campaigns across search, content, display and social media with linguisitics, data science and technology.

  1. Renowned Films Limited

We advised UK-based television production company Renowned Films on the cross-border investment by US company Critical Content and the sale of its shares owned by Channel 4.

Renowned films makes unscripted, factual features and documentaries for TV and digital platforms.

The new investment enables Renowned Films to further expand into the US market.

  1. SQLI

We acted for the shareholders on this deal (SQLI – French Listed e-commerce business – acquiring a majority stake in e-commerce business Redbox) – https://www.redboxdigital.com/redbox-digital-looks-to-the-future-after-joining-sqli/

  1. Clckwrk

We acted for selling shareholders on this one – AWS migration specialist – https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rdx-acquires-cloud-migration-expert-clckwrk-limited-300795488.html

Other Key Deals: Corporate & Commercial Finance

  • Atlantic Leaf: advised a Mauritian-incorporated real estate company, on a series of £20m plus acquisitions of offshore entities holding UK property, building up their c.£130m property portfolio. We also acted on their subsequent refinancing and continue to act as they seek future acquisitions.
  • Clarion Events: UK lawyers of choice for their M&A work.  We carried out a series of high-value acquisitions and sales for Clarion Events, an international and market-leading events company now owned by Blackstone after its acquisition of the Clarion Group.

Major UK publishers: such as Dennis Publishing, Bauer Consumer Media, Time Out Group, and the Travel Weekly Group in respect of their Corporate M&A, joint venture and investment work, as well as restructuring and other corporate advisory work.

Other Key Deals: Corporate & Commercial Finance

  • Founders of Cat and Mouse: advising a leading media technology company (specialising in broadcast technology), on its sale to the Microsoft Corporation.
  • The Up Group: acting for the digital talent company on its investment from Livingbridge.
  • Stagwell Group LLC: advising the US investment advisory company on the UK elements of its purchase of National Research Group (NRG), a leading movie market research company, from Nielsen.
  • Reef Television: advising the shareholders of Reef Television on its sale to Ten Alps plc.
  • Sullivan Street: advising the specialist investment firm on its acquisition of Medica Packaging.

For further information,  please contact Simon Halberstam at Simon.Halberstam@smab.co.uk