Wedlake Bell has advised the selling shareholders of Activate Solutions Group Limited (“Activate“), the parent company to a group of specialist field sales solutions businesses including Field Sales Solutions (“FSS“), on the sale of the entire issued share capital of Activate to France-based Impact Field Marketing Group (“IFMG“).
IFMG is a leader in the French market providing field marketing solutions.
FSS operates in the UK providing outsourced sales team solutions in partnership with FMCG clients including P&G and Ferrero.
Alongside Wedlake Bell, the sale side advisers included:
- corporate finance – Grant Thornton UK LLP;
- corporate tax advice – Parisi Tax LLP; and
- French Law advice – Oyat Avocats, who advised a number of the managers who reinvested into the IFMG group.
Wedlake Bell’s specialist cross departmental M&A team included David Duhig and Gemma Williams (corporate M&A), Choy Lau and Emily Daly (employment), Adam Betts (IP and commercial law), Grainne McCourt (real estate), Alexander Dittel (data protection) and Justin McGilloway and Paul Ashcroft (pensions and employee benefits).
IFMG was advised primarily by gunnercooke LLP, alongside LPA-CGR who provided French Law advice.
This transaction reflects Wedlake Bell’s continuing expertise and strength in the mid-cap international M&A market.
On working with Wedlake Bell, Paul Spicer, CFO of Activate said:
“We have the benefit of having worked with Mark Tasker and his team before, so we knew what we were getting, an incredibly agile and commercially focussed team of advisers, working tirelessly in tandem with us to push the deal forward to a successful conclusion. Wedlake Bell guide you through the legal complexities with aplomb, I couldn’t recommend them highly enough.”
On working with Wedlake Bell, Nigel Le Bas, Director at Grant Thornton UK LLP commented:
“Mark, David and the Wedlake Bell team were exceptional throughout the process, often going over and above what was required. The team were able to combine their undoubted legal expertise with their commercial acumen to enable the legal process to be efficiently run and as smooth as possible for the client. We would love to work with them again.”
Mark Tasker (corporate M&A partner), who led the Wedlake Bell M&A team, commented: “It is incredibly satisfying to have worked with such fabulous clients and a great team of other sale side advisers who performed seamlessly as a strong and commercially guided team. Of particular note is that the target was 80% owned by an employee ownership trust for the benefit of past and present employees, as well as current management. A truly owner managed business.“