Wragge & Co has advised private equity firm H2 Equity Partners on its acquisition of a majority share in automotive car part supplier Unipart Automotive for an undisclosed sum.

 

Under the agreement, H2 Equity Partners will take majority ownership in newly incorporated Unipart Automotive Ltd, with Unipart Group holding the remaining 49.9% share. The transaction will provide increased investment in Unipart Automotive’s product range, IT systems and sourcing capabilities. Senior debt financing was provided by Venture Finance PLC.

 

Private equity partner Ian Piggin led the deal, supported by a large cross-firm team which included automotive experts in banking, commercial, tax, IP and real estate. They worked closely with H2 Equity Partners’ managing partner Patrick Kalverboer and principal Simon Gilbert.

 

Ian Piggin said: “In what remains a competitive private equity market, clients rely on top-quality legal advice and a fast, effective response. Our in-depth automotive expertise and experience in handling complex and novel financial structures, as well as intricate commercial relationships ensured we achieved the client’s goals.”

 

Patrick Kalverboer added: “Unipart Automotive has a strong fit with our other distribution businesses in Europe and we see significant opportunities to help grow the business. In completing this deal we valued the full-service legal and project management support Wragge & Co could provide and its understanding of the sector issues. The whole process ran very smoothly.”

 

H2 Equity Partners is an independent private equity firm founded in 1991, with offices in Amsterdam, Munich and London. It focuses on investments in mid-sized companies in the Benelux, Germany and the UK and has approximately €500 million under management. The firm has a portfolio of 15 businesses with a combined turnover of more than €2 billion.

 

Unipart Automotive is the UK’s largest independent supplier of car parts, workshop products and garage equipment and part of independent logistics company Unipart Group. The group employs more than 10,000 people worldwide and for the year ending December 2010 had an annual turnover of £1.1 billion. Eversheds and Clifford Chance advised Unipart Group, while Squire, Sanders & Dempsey advised Venture Finance.

 

Wragge & Co’s Private Equity team, part of the firm’s Corporate group, offers detailed guidance on pre-transaction decision, financing, structuring and tax issues, as well as post transaction services. Among its other clients are Bridgepoint Development Capital, Lloyds Development Capital, CBPE Private Equity, NVM Private Equity and Lyceum Capital. Earlier this month the team advised Lyceum Capital on its £30 million acquisition of independent managed IT services provider Adapt.

 

The firm has a strong reputation in the automotive sector. With clients including Mercedes-Benz, Johnson Controls, GKN, TRW, Peugeot and Inchcape, its cross-firm team, led by partner Stuart Young, combines technical excellence in corporate, employment, finance, dispute resolution, commercial and antitrust. Highlights include advising an international Tier 1 supplier on a bid for GM Europe. It also assisted Inchcape plc on the rationalisation of its UK dealership network.