Key Highlights
- Sector: Engineering
- Category: M&E Consultancy
- Deal Type: Sale to an EOT
- Deal Size: £X,000,000
Overview
458 acted for the Cudd Bentley Group on the transfer of its shares to an employee ownership trust (EOT). This means that the Cudd Bentley Group now joins other employee-focused businesses in becoming all-employee-owned.
Nathan Lapsley, who led the 458 team said: “I have worked with Cudd Bentley and its management team for many years as they have explored various paths to an exit and its long-term plans for succession. The 458 team was tasked with presenting a structure that would return shareholder value whilst ensuring that the culture and growth ambitions for the Group continued as if nothing had changed, and the transition to becoming employee owned via an EOT proved to be the optimum solution. We as a team have tremendous experience acting for all stakeholders on EOT transactions – trustees, sellers, targets, funders – and we brought that experience to structure this transaction, advise on financing options right through to closing. Huge congrats to the Cudd Bentley team and everybody involved.”
Steve Bainbridge’s comments
“We’ve been dealing with Nathan and the team for many years and their professionalism and value add has always impressed me. We explored different options for an exit, but the Board was never comfortable that the Cudd Bentley culture would be maintained by selling the business to a third party. 458 presented us with a structure that matched our expectations. From there, 458 connected legal, tax and finance and managed the process for us efficiently. It was great to work with the team and we look forward to working with them in the future as an employee-owned group.”
