Osborne Clarke has advised longstanding client LDC and Newco on a £50m management buyout (MBO) of Clifford Thames.

LDC is the UK's leading regional mid-market private equity house, with a current portfolio of more than 80 businesses valued in excess of £2billion.

Clifford Thames creates, aggregates and publishes aftermarket data for labour operations, part catalogues and vehicle specifications. It is one of the UK's market leading firms in automotive data.

The team at Osborne Clarke was led by Corporate Partners Robert Wood and LDC’s Client Relationship Partner, Greg Leyshon. Rob and Greg were assisted by Senior Associate Caroline Drummond and Corporate Associate Emma Barr. Banking Associate Director, Chris Marrable, and Banking Partner, Dominic Ross, handled the Banking work for LDC and Newco (dealing with banking facilities from HSBC and Octopus).

Partner Robert Wood comments:

"We have been very impressed during this process by the quality of Clifford Thames’ business and management team. We wish LDC and the management team every success in the next phase of Clifford Thames’ growth. The deal itself required a split exchange and completion process, which is fairly unusual in the current leveraged buyout market. This was therefore a good opportunity for Osborne Clarke to demonstrate what we can do, by advising on a structure that is not straight-forward and doing that in a very short time frame.”

In the last year Osborne Clarke has advised the private equity firm on the MBO's of Ministry of Cake and the Training Room, and the sales of Penn Pharmaceuticals, Leasedrive and Shires Lighting.