DAC Beachcroft’s Corporate team in London has advised AIM-quoted client IQGeo Group Plc, a leading supplier of geospatial network management software to telecom, fibre and utility network operators, on its acquisition by private equity firm KKR, at a value of £333 million.
The deal, which was announced on 14 May 2024, was implemented by a Court-approved scheme of arrangement completing on 23 September 2024.
The transaction team was led by DACB corporate partner Michelle Jones assisted by, amongst others, corporate partner Matthew Darling, tax partner Julian Feiner and corporate associate Shuwen Yu.
The deal was a cash offer with a share alternative and was subject to certain regulatory clearances.
Haywood Chapman, Chief Financial Officer at IQGeo, commented, "I used DACB for this transaction as I know that they can be relied upon to get the job done efficiently and with good, pragmatic advice. The team generally, and Michelle and Shuwen in particular, lived up to, and actually exceeded, my expectations. Michelle's knowledge of the relevant law, the Takeover Code and the process generally is very impressive and Shuwen made what could have been a challenging verification process mercifully straightforward. The DACB team were instrumental in successfully completing this transaction."
Matthew Darling added, "We are delighted to have been able to work alongside the IQGeo team on this deal. This is the second transaction of this type which we have done in recent years with Haywood Chapman, having acted for Castleton Technology plc, a software and technology provider in the social housing sector of which he was CFO, on its acquisition by US-based MRI Software back in 2020. We have acted, and continue to act, on a number of high value public M&A takeovers, demonstrating our acknowledged expertise in this area and our ability to deliver complex corporate transactions on tight timescales."
