Stuart Boyd

Kirkland & Ellis advised Boston-based growth equity firm Silversmith Capital Partners on a $40 million growth investment in UK-based Novatus Global Limited. Novatus Global provides regulatory technology solutions to global financial institutions. The capital from Silversmith’s primary investment will enable Novatus Global to continue to invest in the technology underpinning of its best-in-class SaaS platform while also expanding its geographic footprint. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team was led by corporate partner Stuart Boyd and associates Steven Hunter and Izzet Hassan, with assistance from corporate partner Christian Atwood. The team also included technology & IP transactions partner Emma Flett and tax partners Mavnick Nerwal and James Seddon.

Sep 12

1 min

U.S. investment firm Long Path Partners said Friday that it has so far won backing from 19.12% of shareholders in Idox PLC for its £339.5 million ($461 million) buyout of the U.K. government software company. Long Path said that the backing includes irrevocable undertakings from the directors of Idox and other shareholders that hold a total of 15.63% of the software company's stock. The U.S. investment firm already owns 12.32% of Idox. The offer has been open to Idox shareholders for 21 days. The investors have until March 16 to tender their shares under the offer. The deal is being completed as a takeover offer and is subject to Long Path holding more than 50% of shares in Idox. Long Path said it will be able to squeeze out any remaining shares if it holds at least 90% of Idox's shares. Long Path said it will pull Idox's shares from trading on London's Alternative Investment Market if it holds at least 75% of the stock. Long Path, through its bidding vehicle Frankel UK Bidco Ltd., is offering Idox shareholders 71.5 pence in cash per share. The U.S. company said in October that it had agreed to buy Idox in a deal that requires U.K. and French foreign direct investment clearance. The buyer had previously intended to complete the deal through a scheme of arrangement, which requires backing from at least 75% of shareholders in the target. But it changed this to a takeover offer in January to make it easier for the deal to go ahead. Idox, which is based in Surrey, southeast England, provides software to help manage elections. Kirkland & Ellis LLP is guiding Long Path, with a team led by corporate partners Stuart Boyd and Victoria Legg. Pinsent Masons LLP is steering Idox with a team headed by partner Rosalie Chadwick and public mergers and acquisition specialist Adam Cain.

Feb 6

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised education company EAB on its acquisition of Hybrid, a UK-based leader in digital marketing for higher education, from private equity investor LDC. Read EAB’s press release The Kirkland team included corporate lawyers Stuart Boyd, Jamie Gordon, Ari Levi, Adam Diouri, Saniya Sidhu, Joaquim Gomes, Benjamin Jain and Siddharth Rai; tax lawyers Caroline Inker, Mavnick Nerwal and Bryan Leighton; debt finance lawyer Lloyd Robertson-Jones; technology & IP transactions lawyers Daisy Darvall, Emma Flett, Joanna Thomson and Shareen Dhillon; and employment & labor lawyer Colleen Mayer.

Jan 20

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised Zellis Group, a portfolio company of the Apax Funds providing HR, payroll, and benefits administration software, on reaching a definitive agreement to acquire Benify, a provider of employee benefits administration software, from Vitruvian Partners. As part of the transaction, Benify will be combined with Zellis Group’s benefits administration software and employee engagement business, Benefex, and Vitruvian Partners will become a minority investor in the Zellis Group alongside the Apax Funds. Read Zellis Group’s press release The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Jacob Traff, Stuart Boyd and Andrew McAlpine and associates Rebecca Pearce, Oliver Small, Rika Hayashida and Steven Hunter; tax partners Rob Sharpe and Alan Walker and associates Hugo Coleman and Bryan Leighton; technology & IP transactions partner Jenny Wilson and associate Luke Vaz; and financial services regulatory partners Daniel Fallon and Ramya Juwadi.

Sep 4

1 min