Legal team revealed behind deal to sell Derbyshire insurance firm
The legal team behind a deal to sell a Derbyshire-based insurance and retail broker has been revealed.
The sale of HTC Associates, the professional insurance consultancy set up in 2004, completed in July and has now become part of the Jensten family of companies.
Corporate partner David Kaplan and corporate associate Liz Mills, of Nelsons – which has offices in Derby, Leicester and Nottingham – acted for the shareholders of the company, Justin Conroy and David Tucker. Conroy and Tucker were two of the three partners who set up HTC Associates 16 years ago.
DKaplan said: “Justin and David approached us in August 2019, to help them negotiate the heads of terms and act on the sale. At that time the deal was on track and set to complete in April.
“However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a general slowdown in transactions across the country, so to have been able to get the acquisition back on track in the midst of lockdown is a real achievement for everyone involved. We actually exchanged contracts in May, in the height of lockdown, and completed once all regulatory approvals for the transaction were received in July.”
HTC will continue to function as a standalone brand within Jensten’s retail division, with all members of the team remaining with the business – including Conroy, who will continue as general manager.
He said: “The first of our three founders retired in 2015, and David is now ready to look into early retirement too, so we naturally started looking for shareholder investors and Jensten quickly came to the fore. A key thing for us was to ensure that HTC stays as it is as we’ve built up an incredibly talented team and loyal customer base over the years, and this deal does just that.
“Nelsons is a well-known name in the area and we’d already worked with the employment team a few years ago, but this was our first time working with David Kaplan. From start to finish, he’s been incredibly thorough and kept us informed of the deal’s progress constantly – even during lockdown when existing ways of working had to change quickly.
“I’m excited to see HTC’s partnership with Jensten unfold over the coming months and would like to thank Nelsons for all the support we’ve received over the past year.”
Shoosmiths acted on behalf of Jensten Group, with Springboard Corporate Finance also advising the purchaser.
