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Browne Jacobson advises consortium on major Sofa Workshop acquisition
17/02/2009
Browne Jacobson has advised a Nottingham – based consortium on the acquisition of 10 Sofa Workshop stores from furniture retailer New Heights for an undisclosed sum.
The consortium is led by former Sofa Workshop founder Andrew Cussins who started the business in 1985 and sold it to MFI in 2002 before New Heights purchased the business in 2006.
The acquisition, which took a week to complete, involves stores in Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Guildford, Kingston, Tunbridge Wells, Battersea, Chiswick, King's Road and Tottenham Court Road. Sofa Workshop’s remaining 20 stores and the head office have been closed.Head of Corporate at Browne Jacobson Nigel Blackwell led the team comprising of Mark Hughes (Corporate), Claire Gay and Julie Newton (Retail Property) and Dawn Lobley (Employment). The team advised on all aspects of the acquisition including the corporate and real estate due diligence, corporate acquisition and employment matters.
It has been a busy period for Browne Jacobson which has seen the firm advising on a number of insolvency matters in recent months including Nottingham based Thomas Fish, recruitment agency Brownhills and MoneyQuest.
Nigel Blackwell said :
“Despite the tough trading conditions we are pleased that the brand Andrew worked so hard to develop over a number of years will continue to have a presence on the high street.
“This was a large and complex transaction involving 10 stores which required a fully integrated service from our corporate, property and employment teams.
“Our retail sector expertise coupled with our experience in negotiating acquisitions to tight deadlines was invaluable in delivering a positive outcome for the client and we look forward to working with them in the foreseeable future.”
Submitted by Lakhbir Rakar