Professionals: Advisors work on major acquisition; Irish Minister visits law firm; and more

A TEAM from the Leeds office of Deloitte advised private equity firm Livingbridge on the sale of Onyx, an IT infrastructure services provider, to Pulsant, one of the UK’s largest datacentre providers.

Onyx focuses on providing cloud, colocation, remote and on-site IT management, workplace recovery, applications management and security solutions. The group also provides UK data centres, cloud security backup and IT infrastructure to businesses including Sage, Edinburgh Airport and Bond Dickinson.

The team from Deloitte Financial Advisory which advised Livingbridge was led by Martin Jenkins and Joel Greenwood and included Matthew Nicholson and Oliver McRae.  Vendor financial due diligence to Onyx was also provided by Deloitte from partner Matt Henderson and his transaction services team. Yunus Seedat, Andrew Green and David Parker of Addleshaw Goddard provided legal advice.

Martin Jenkins, financial advisory partner at Deloitte in Leeds, said:  “We are delighted to have advised Livingbridge, on the successful exit from its investment in Onyx with an integrated team drawn from across our business bringing together the best technical, transaction and sector expertise. The deal reflects a close working relationship Onyx developed over several years with Deloitte having supported its acquisition of Knowledge IT in 2014. We believe that Onyx will be an excellent strategic fit for Pulsant as it continues its expansion across the UK.”  

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IRISH Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor visited Leeds to discuss the EU referendum with business leaders and the Irish community.

Ms Mitchell O’Connor delivered a breakfast briefing at law firm Lupton Fawcett Denison Till in Leeds on her first visit to the UK as Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.

Richard Marshall, managing director of Lupton Fawcett Denison Till, welcomed the minister to the event, which was arranged by the British-Irish Chamber of Commerce.

The visit formed part of a coordinated programme of ministerial engagements reaching out to Irish citizens living and working in the UK who are eligible to vote in the UK’s EU membership referendum on June 23.

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THE UK’s largest redistributor of surplus food, Company Shop, has appointed Irwin Mitchell as its lead legal adviser.

Founded by John Marren more than 40 years ago, Company Shop is based in Barnsley and is responsible for stopping more than 30,000 tonnes of good food going to waste every year. It does so by redistributing surplus food through a national network of staff shops, standalone stores and ‘click and collect’ services to members that work in the food manufacturing industry and emergency services.

In December 2013, Company Shop launched the UK’s first social supermarket, Community Shop, with the aim of ensuring even more people in disadvantaged communities benefit from the model. Community Shop is a social enterprise which aims to not only redistribute surplus food, but also gives members access to professional, personal development programmes aimed at providing a positive change to their lives.  

Irwin Mitchell will provide Company Shop and Community Shop with full legal support from across its business services team including corporate, commercial, employment and litigation.

James Berry, senior associate at Irwin Mitchell’s Sheffield office, said: “Company Shop is ahead of the political agenda and leading the way in terms of tackling food waste and improving the way in which the food industry operates. To be appointed lead legal adviser by such a forward thinking company is fantastic news and testament to the depth of our expertise in the food and manufacturing sector as well as our own approach to client care and social responsibility.”