Shoosmiths has advised the shareholders of Ludendo Enterprises UK Ltd (LEUK) on the sale of the entire issued share capital of the trading group that operated under the world famous ‘Hamleys’ brand.
Family-run business Ludendo has a portfolio of over 300 stores including toy retailers La Grande Récré and Franz Carl Weber. Shoosmiths acted for the management team of the Hamleys group in 2012 when it was bought by LEUK in a £60m deal.
Shoosmiths has a long standing relationship with Hamleys and its shareholders. The deal was co-led by corporate partner Sean Wright and senior associate Tim Moss with support from solicitor Emma Livesey. The Shoosmiths team also drew from specialist expertise across the firm including Real Estate (Jo McGuiness – Client Partner), Tax (Tom Rank) and Intellectual Property (Gary Assim) to complete the complex cross-border deal.
The business sold its entire issued share capital of Hamleys to Chinese footwear retailer, C Banner International Holdings Limited.
Alasdair Dunn, Deputy CEO at The Hamleys Group, said:
”As longstanding legal partners of Hamleys, Shoosmiths were the clear preference to act as legal advisor when the shareholders decided to sell their shares in Hamleys. Once again they provided a professional, responsive and expert service that we could confidently rely on. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Shoosmiths team for their work, which greatly helped in ensuring a successful sale.”
