Legal eagles go Dutch to seal deal

_{THE corporate team at the Manchester office of law firm Mills & Reeve has advised an international Dutch manufacturer and retailer of blinds on the acquisition of a UK company.}

The Mills & Reeve team, led by partner Chris Ross and included Ryan Hawley and Kevin Lowe, advised Hunter Douglas, which has its world headquarters in Rotterdam, on its acquisition of a 60% stake in Blinds2go, the leading online blinds retailer in the UK, with 2015 sales of £34m.

The team at Convex Capital advised the shareholders of Blinds 2go on the sale. The team included Mike Driver, Nathalie Hodgkinson, Charlie Yates, Warren Meggitt, James Edge and David Kandola.

Blinds2go is based in Nottingham and employs 60 people. Management will remain unchanged and continue to own 40 per cent of the company.

Hunter Douglas, which employs about 16,000 people worldwide and had sales in 2015 of $2.552b, intends to assist Blinds2go in expanding into selected Asian markets, which presents an attractive opportunity for Blinds2go’s unique own-branded product range.

Chris Ross said: “We were delighted to advise Hunter Douglas on the acquisition of the majority stake in Blinds2go which will be an excellent fit into the group’s international portfolio.”