Arle Capital Partners LLP

We also advised Candover Partners Limited on the simultaneous secondary acquisition, in conjunction with Pantheon Ventures, of a strip of thirteen investments owned by Candover Investments plc in the underlying Candover portfolio. Pantheon is a long time Candover fund investor.

Following the financial difficulties which hit Candover Investments plc as a result of the credit crisis, the company decided to unwind its structure and dispose of its private equity manager.

The transaction was one of the most complex buyouts of a private equity house. The combination of the establishment of a regulated new group, the Arle group, the sale of Candover Partners Limited and the acquisition of thirteen investments at the same time was highly complex, involving multi-jurisdictional legal, regulatory and tax issues, and took almost two years to complete. The transaction also had to be structured to accommodate not only the needs of the principal parties but other stakeholders in the wider Candover group, including the shareholders and bondholders of Candover Investments plc, the limited partners of the different Candover funds, and the companies in which those funds are invested.

“Travers Smith deployed a first class multi-disciplinary team with the right mix of intellect, energy and pragmatism to drive this transaction forward in the tight timescales required. All in all it was a very impressive performance.”

Philip Price, Chief Operating Officer, Candover Partners