National law firm Shoosmiths has advised the exiting shareholder and the management team of Clearwater Group Limited on the acquisition by Baird Capital of a majority interest in the Clearwater corporate group.
Headquartered in Camberley, Surrey, Clearwater is a leading provider of water treatment, hygiene, engineering and pump services and provides water solutions and services to estate owners and facilities managers across a variety of sectors, including food and beverage, pharmaceutical, industrial and the public sector. The business was founded in 1990 by the CEO, Guy Rowley, and has grown its operations across the UK and Ireland as well as expanding the services it offers to its customers.
Lynn Knight of Shoosmiths led the deal alongside client partner, Sean Wright, and they were supported by Tim Moss and James Richards (corporate), Cara Beveridge (real estate) and Jamie Chambers (tax).
Chief executive of Clearwater Group, Guy Rowley, said, 'Shoosmiths provided an excellent service to Clearwater throughout the process. Lynn and the team gave prompt, concise, and commercially astute advice during what was a complex transaction, constantly achieving tight deadlines whilst still conducting the process with humour and a human touch. I would thoroughly recommend them.'
Shoosmiths' Lynn Knight added, 'This was a great transaction to work on, with a strong and experienced management team who, alongside Baird Capital, will be able to build the Clearwater business and take it to the next level in its evolution.'
The lead advisers for the exiting shareholder and the management team were Spectrum Corporate Finance LLP (Ian Milne, Simon Davies and James Mines) and the sell side tax advice was provided by Grant Thornton LLP (Michael Cooper).
Shoosmiths' corporate team advises public and private companies, management teams, investors and debt providers through the business life cycle. Shoosmiths works with businesses from start up and first round finance through to mergers and acquisitions, MBO and MBI transactions, development funding and on exits, whether by way of sale, listing or private equity investment.
The national corporate team has recently been placed second by deal volume in Experian's UK Deal Review and Advisor League Table.