Shoosmiths corporate team has advised long standing client Octopus Investments on its further funding of Calastone, the independent cross-border transaction network for the global funds industry.
Shoosmiths partner Alastair Peet led the team with support from associate and fellow corporate specialist, Gareth Davies.
Calastone secured a total of $18m (£11.47m) investment from private equity firm Accel Partners and shareholder Octopus Investments. The funding will be used to accelerate the company's global growth strategy in Asia Pacific and Europe, in addition to expanding its product range.
Octopus committed £2m to Calastone in 2010. The capital was drawn from the Titan VCTs. In June this year, Octopus launched a new venture capital fund that will be financed by institutional investors and managed by Octopus. The launch included a proposal which saw the Titan VCTs 1-3 sell their holdings in four underlying portfolio companies including Calastone to the new vehicle. As part of the transaction, the VCTs retained 50% of the original investment through ownership of a stake in the new fund.
Peet said: "We were pleased to be able to work with the Octopus team again and have the opportunity to draw on our experience and in-depth knowledge of their business to deliver the best outcome."
Alex Macpherson, head of the Ventures team at Octopus Investments, said of the Shoosmiths team: "As always, Al and his team provided us with a very impressive service.
"Their innovative approach to the complex negotiations involved in this deal enabled us to meet a particularly tricky deadline, a factor that was essential to the overall success of this particular investment."
Shoosmiths national corporate team currently sits in the top three of the authoritative UK Experian Corpfin Advisor League Tables for number of deals done.
The team was recently named 'Law Firm of the Year' at this year's prestigious M&A Awards.