Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has advised Banner, one of the leading school uniform and sportswear suppliers in the UK, on its acquisition of F.R. Monkhouse Ltd.  F.R. Monkhouse is one of the largest independent retailers in the UK with nine retail stores and nine on-site school shops in large independent schools.

Funded by growth capital investors MML Capital Partners, the acquisition represents a key step in Banner’s strategy to be the market leader in the supply of both uniform and sportswear to the schoolwear industry.

Glenn Leech, Chief Executive of Banner said:

"This acquisition provides many exciting opportunities for the combined business and will give us valuable insights into how we can further improve our offer.  It was important to complete the deal as swiftly as possible to enable both ourselves and Monkhouse to focus on delivering high standards of service to all customers during the busy Back to School period and WBD helped us achieve that."

The WBD team was led by corporate partner Tom Fitzpatrick, who commented:

"This is the first acquisition we have worked on for Banner and it is great to be involved with their dynamic growth strategy."

WBD has a large corporate practice in the UK advising national and international clients on a broad range of corporate transactions, particularly M&As, private equity investments, growth and development capital, and public company fundraisings.