FFW, Stephensons to cover Tottel’s takeover by Bloomsbury Publishing

FFW corporate partner Nicholas Thompsell and associate Jonathan Burton led the team advising Bloomsbury.

The deal consolidates FFW’s relationship with the publisher. The firm acted on its acquisition of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack in January as well as on its takeover of Berg Publishers, the fashion publishing business, in September last year.

Tottel, which specialises in subscription publishing in professional and ­academic titles, was ­represented by Stephensons corporate finance partner Sharon White and associate Adele Falconer.

If the deal goes ahead Bloomsbury will pay £10m in cash for Tottel and the company will be renamed Bloomsbury Professional.

In January an FFW team led by Thompsell and ­assisted by associates ­Martin Griffiths, Hennah Raza and Grant Hamilton advised Bloomsbury on the acquisition of John Wisden & Co, the company behind the Wisden Almanack.

Wisden was represented by Charles Russell.

Bloomsbury also regularly instructs Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC). In July 2007 defamation and IP partner David Hooper helped the publisher secure an injunction against the publication of details from the last Harry Potter book, and in February 2008 RPC associate Maya Abu Deeb was appointed as Bloomsbury’s first general counsel.