The Corporate team at CooperBurnett has advised the shareholders of Brookcourt Solutions Ltd on the sale of their company in its recent reverse takeover by the AIM listed company Shearwater Group plc.
Based in Redhill, Surrey, Brookcourt Solutions is an IT integrator specialising in security, networking, consultancy, cyber surveillance and managed services. While initially focused on the financial services sector, Brookcourt has expanded its customer base and now serves a variety of clients within industries including technology, media and the insurance market.
CooperBurnett has provided legal advice to the company since it was created in 2005 and was engaged by the owners in February this year to advise them on the deal.
“We are proud to have worked with Brookcourt since its inception 13 years ago and to have witnessed its growth to an award-winning business,” says Victoria Sampson, Partner and Head of Corporate and Commercial Services at CooperBurnett.
In addition to Victoria, the CooperBurnett team working on the deal included fellow Partner Joseph Oates and Associate Solicitors Thomas Newlyn and Katie Hilsdon. The shareholders also received lead advisory corporate finance advice from Grant Thornton (Anthony Platt and Andy Rice) and accountancy support from Auker Hutton (Tony Burgoyne and Rob Tegg) during the course of the deal.
“Being a reverse takeover, this is one of the most intricate and challenging deals we have negotiated here at CooperBurnett. I am incredibly proud of how we worked together as a team, making sure there was a constant communication channel between us, our clients and the wider advisory team,” says Victoria. “This was a stimulating deal in many ways, including last minute revisions during the transactional stages but we got there. We all feel a huge sense of achievement and are confident that we have helped to create a great outcome for Brookcourt Solutions and our clients.”
Thomas Newlyn, who joined CooperBurnett in 2017, adds: “It was fascinating to be so closely involved in a reverse takeover, as they don’t occur that frequently and are often dealt with by City firms. It was a complex yet incredibly interesting deal.”
The two original owners are remaining with the business and will support the further development of the company into cyber security and managed service solutions.
They have stated: “We had a number of options to develop and grow our business but were very much drawn to joining Shearwater owing to our shared vision and the real opportunity to be part of a rapidly expanding PLC. We are delighted to be joining Shearwater at such a pivotal time in Brookcourt’s development and we very much look forward to realising our ambitions for the business as part of a wider group.”
“We are very grateful to the team at CooperBurnett throughout this process for their enormous support. It was certainly a journey but we always felt that they were there with us, guiding us in the right direction. Their expertise shone through and they were unflappable, which was just what we needed.”
