National law firm Shoosmiths has advised The West Berkshire Brewery PLC, the independent brewery based in Yattendon, on its re-registration as a public company and its offer of new shares to raise up to £4 million under the Enterprise Investment Scheme.
Shoosmiths' corporate partner Adam Dowdney led a team of corporate specialists on the fundraising comprising corporate partner Mark Shepherd and paralegal James Arnold. Employment partner Paula Rome provided specialist legal advice and ad hoc advice was provided by other departments throughout the firm.
The West Berkshire Brewery was founded in 1995 and currently produces a range of eight different beers and cask-conditioned ales.
Since March 2013, the company has been led by David Bruce and the Board intends to use the funds raised from this fundraising to construct a new high-specification brewery, expand the company's sales team and acquire a freehold pub in an urban location. Grant Thornton acted as financial adviser on the transaction, James Cowper were the reporting accountants and the promoter is RAM Capital. Ross Brooke are the company's auditors.
Adam Dowdney said: 'This was the second fundraising we have done for The West Berkshire Brewery and it was great to work with the whole executive team again, as well as the new directors Clive Watson and Simon Robertson-Macleod and the team at Grant Thornton led by Colin Aaronson. These are really exciting times for the brewery as they seek to further develop and expand their operations and we were delighted to provide the legal framework to underpin the fundraising. As always, it was a great team effort from all involved at Shoosmiths and we are all looking forward to a brewery tour to celebrate!'
David Bruce, chairman of The West Berkshire Brewery commented: 'For the second time in less than a year, Adam and the Shoosmiths team have been integral in helping the company produce an Information Memorandum in order to assist our fundraising ambitions. The corporate finance team advised on the Articles of Association required for a new PLC, legal due diligence, verification and the contents of the Information Memorandum and also its HR team advised on contracts of employment, bonus schemes and other employment related issues and we all appreciated their hard work and expertise during the fundraising process.
'I shall look forward to working with Shoosmiths in future as the company continues to progress.'
Shoosmiths' corporate team was recently named 'Law Firm of the Year' at the prestigious national M&A Awards, 2013. It was also ranked in the top three of the authoritative UK Experian Corpfin Advisor League Tables for number of deals completed in 2013.