Lawyers from DLA Piper's Birmingham office have advised Dignity plc ("Dignity") on the acquisition of Yew Holdings Limited ("Yew") for £58.3 million on a debt-free-cash-free basis. The acquisition completed on 25 January 2013.

The DLA Piper team also advised the Board on a fully underwritten placing of shares in Dignity to raise approximately £24.2 million before expenses. The placing, together with £39.8 million of new debt, will be used to fund the acquisition.

Noel Haywood, client relationship partner for Dignity, led the acquisition, working with Nigel Cooke, corporate associate, and Simon Wright, corporate solicitor. John Campion, corporate partner, led the equity fundraising and James Crellin, legal director, led the debt financing.
Headquartered in Sutton Coldfield, Dignity is the largest provider of funeral services in the United Kingdom. Yew is a funeral and crematoria business which operates in the North of England.
The acquisition will comprise 40 funeral locations and two crematoria. Dignity will also take over the administration of approximately 9,000 of Yew's outstanding pre-arranged funeral plans.
Mike McCollum, Chief Executive of Dignity, commented: "The acquisition of Yew will increase our funeral presence in the North of England and further expand our crematoria portfolio. This is a quality business which will be an excellent addition to the Dignity Group.

DLA Piper has worked with us for a number of years and on a number of transactions. The team has a deep understanding of our business and was therefore able to provide us with excellent, time critical and commercially focused advice."

Noel Haywood, client relationship partner for Dignity said: "Dignity is a longstanding and deeply valued client and we are delighted to have advised the company on this transaction and related fundraising.
Dignity is an outstanding success story of a local plc which has achieved growth by focusing on tactical acquisitions which build upon its ability to provide the quality and excellent customer service for which the brand is known."
John Campion, corporate partner at DLA piper, said: "The placing was carried out at £10.60 per share, representing a discount of 3.2 per cent to the closing mid-market price of Dignity's shares immediately before announcement. This shows that there is demand in the equity market for strong issuers."

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