Funder helps achieve perfect ending for Once Upon a Time acquisition strategy
The Manchester office of Tosca Debt Capital (TDC) has provided a first lien facility to support the acquisition of the remaining equity of Once Upon A Time (OUAT) by its management team from its private equity investor, Calculus Capital, and to provide funding for their ambitious growth and acquisition strategy.
A first lien is the first to be paid when a borrower defaults and the property or asset was used as collateral for the debt.
OUAT is a London-based marketing agency that delivers a full range of marketing services, from advertising, branding, media, all forms of creative, shopper and in-store marketing, and the production of physical and digital assets.
Clients include high-profile brands such as Disney, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros, Netflix, William Grant and BMG Music.
Founded in 2013, OUAT has successfully acquired and integrated seven specialist agencies and has offices in the UK and US following the acquisition of Ideaworks in 2019, which has locations in New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
OUAT chief executive and co-founder, Joe Garton, who led the transaction alongside his co-founders Di Charlton and Rob Ward, and CFO, Dan Miller, said: “When we founded Once Upon A Time we had a mission to build a new generation of agency based on sectors people love, such as sport, hospitality, gaming, music and entertainment.
“We have delivered on that mission over the last six years and built a multi-national, multi-disciplined creative agency.
“We are now poised to embark upon the next stage of our growth with our new partner, Tosca Debt Capital, to further develop our product base and geographical reach whilst still focusing on providing unparalleled levels of expertise and service to our client base across those ‘passion sectors’, for which we have become recognised.”
Gary Davison, partner at Tosca Debt Capital which was named Funder of the Year at TheBusinessDesk.com Rainmaker Awards in Manchester’s Hilton Hotel last June, said: “We are delighted to have been able to support Joe and his team at OUAT.
“They have delivered great success since the inception of the business and we look forward to working with them on the next phase of their journey to further enhance their proposition and build value in their business over the coming months and years.
“They have an ambitious growth plan and we believe they have the capabilities to deliver on this plan and build OUAT into a major player in its sector.”
The London office of Livingstone Partners acted as lead advisers to OUAT and legal advice was provided to TDC by Martin O’Shea and Jess Burgess at Addleshaw Goddard in Manchester.
