DLA Piper advised Hyve Group plc on the acquisition of Shoptalk and Groceryshop, two US-based market leading events focused on e-commerce for the retail, grocery and consumer packaged goods industries, for a total consideration of USD145 million on a cash free, debt free basis.

The deal was funded through a placing of new ordinary shares by way of accelerated bookbuild, fully underwritten by Numis Securities, together with a drawdown under revised GBP250 million debt facilities for Hyve. The placing was conducted alongside a subscription for new Hyve shares by the founders and senior management of Shoptalk and Groceryshop. The issue of new ordinary shares by Hyve raised gross proceeds of approximately GBP63.9 million.

DLA Piper advised Hyve on the acquisition as well as the share placing, with a team led by London-based partners Charles Severs (Corporate) and Martin Penn (Equity Capital Markets) together with New York-based partners Jonathan Klein (Corporate) and Richard Rubano (Corporate). Macfarlanes LLP advised on the debt facilities.

The legal team at Hyve was led by Helen Milburn, General Counsel.

Commenting on the transaction, Helen Milburn, said: “Having refreshed our legal panel in 2019 we were delighted to work alongside the DLA Piper team on this cross-border transaction. Working to a tight timeline for acquiring these two truly market-leading events the DLA Piper team were a great asset – working quickly and collaboratively, day and night, with great attention to detail. Both Shoptalk and Groceryshop are leaders in their fields, but with multiple areas of growth. These events are the perfect fit for our vision to deliver must-attend events that are content-driven, provide an outstanding experience and deliver a great return on investment for our customers. With many elements of the transaction being unique the practical support and advice from DLA Piper was incredibly valuable.”

Commenting on the transaction, Charles Severs and Martin Penn said: “The DLA Piper team loved working with Hyve on this transaction as the Company operates in an extremely dynamic, fast moving environment, focussed on must-attend events.”