Shoosmiths Advises Spring Ventures on £20m Investment

July, 2016 - Solent, England

Shoosmiths has advised independent private equity firm, Spring Ventures, on a £20m investment into Kent-based IGF Invoice Finance, which has been acquired from the Greater London Enterprise (GLE).

The equity commitment from Spring Ventures expands IGF’s asset based lending facilities for UK SME’s.

An initial investment of £9m will fund the buy-in management buyout (BIMBO) of IGF with further follow on capital of £11m over the next three years to be available. IGF will lend up to £5m to meet the growth aspirations and working capital needs of UK SME’s with revenues of up to £100m. The facilities may also be used for re-financings, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and turnaround situations. IGF currently has a portfolio of over 200 clients and supported small businesses with total sales volumes of more than £300m in the year to March 2015.

Shoosmiths’ corporate team was led by partner Lynn Knight supported by Emma Livesey. Jamie Chambers led on the tax piece, and financial input was provided by Rebecca Mauleverer, Linda Williams and their team. The team advised Spring Ventures on all aspects of the deal including the acquisition of IGF, the equity terms of Spring Ventures' investment and the financial aspects of the transaction.

John Hudson, managing partner at Spring Ventures, commented: ’Lynn and the team at Shoosmiths have once again provided fantastic support and guidance through a relatively intense process.’

Shoosmiths’ Lynn Knight, said: ‘It has been a pleasure to work with Spring Ventures again on this transaction. With an experienced management team, IGF has great prospects.

‘The dynamic expertise and strong project management skills of our corporate team sees us working on numerous deals across the M&A market and we look forward to working with Spring Ventures on similar projects in the future’.

Spring Ventures is an entrepreneur-funded private equity firm that invests in UK business with high growth potential. Built around partners and an advisory board, they have a strong track record of supporting ambitious management teams to strategically plan and accelerate growth of their business. Investment opportunities are focused mainly in the business services, IT, industrial products, financial services and healthcare.

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 joint first place by deal volume in Experian's 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.

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