National law firm Shoosmiths has advised the shareholders of Ludendo Enterprises UK Limited (LEUK) on the sale of the entire issued share capital of the trading group that operated under the world famous 'Hamleys' brand.
Family run business Ludendo has a portfolio of over 300 stores including toy retailers La Grande Récré and Franz Carl Weber. Shoosmiths acted for the management team of the Hamleys group in 2012 when it was bought by LEUK in a £60m deal.
Shoosmiths has a long standing relationship with Hamleys and its shareholders. The deal was co-led by corporate partner Sean Wright and senior associate Tim Moss with support from solicitor Emma Livesey. The Shoosmiths team also drew from specialist expertise across the firm including Real Estate (Jo McGuiness - Client Partner), Tax (Tom Rank) and Intellectual Property (Gary Assim) to complete the complex cross-border deal.
The business sold its entire issued share capital of Hamleys to Chinese footwear retailer, C Banner International Holdings Limited.
Alasdair Dunn, Deputy CEO at The Hamleys Group, said:
'As longstanding legal partners of Hamleys, Shoosmiths were the clear preference to act as legal advisor when the shareholders decided to sell their shares in Hamleys. Once again they provided a professional, responsive and expert service that we could confidently rely on. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Shoosmiths team for their work, which greatly helped in ensuring a successful sale.'
Shoosmiths corporate partner, Sean Wright, commented:
'This was a complex and challenging transaction, and we drew on expertise from across the business to achieve this excellent result for our client. We wish all parties involved every success for the future.'
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 was recently crowned 'Law Firm of the Year' at the M&A Awards 2015 and has been placed second by deal volume in Experian's UK Deal Review and Advisor League Table.