Appleby has assisted management firm DBAY Advisors, which has offices in the Isle of Man and London, with its £98.7 million takeover bid for AIM-listed IT and recruitment specialist Harvey Nash.
Appleby provided Jersey and Cayman Islands law advice on the transaction. It was instructed by DBAY Advisors in its capacity as investment manager to DouglasBay Capital II Fund (DBC II Jersey) and DouglasBay Capital II Cayman Fund (DBC II Cayman).
The acquirer, The Power of Talent (BidCo), is a newly established entity set up by DBAY Advisors and indirectly owned and controlled by DBC II Jersey and DBC II Cayman. BidCo has offered 130 pence per share for each Harvey Nash share and an interim dividend from Harvey Nash of 1.75p per share.
The acquisition is subject to the approval of the shareholders of Harvey Nash and other conditions. Once these are satisfied, the cash acquisition will be effected by way of a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the UK Companies Act 2006, making DBAY funds the largest shareholder of Harvey Nash. Following the acquisition, Harvey Nash will become a private company.
The Jersey team at Appleby was led by Corporate Partner Andrew Weaver, with assistance from Associates Zim Ceko, Chris Smedley and Karishma Beegoo. The team also worked alongside Appleby Cayman Partners Jacob MacAdam and Sailaja Alla and Associate Farrah Miller.