Leading commercial law firm Hill Dickinson has acted for the management team of major servicing solutions provider JLA on its sale from Hg, the manager of HgCapital Trust, to international private equity house Cinven. The sale, which was first announced back in May, successfully completed on Wednesday 15 August 2018 following approval from the FCA and CMA. 

Hill Dickinson partner and national head of corporate, Craig Scott, and corporate partner, Matt Noon, advised the management team shareholders on the equity investment and sale terms of the deal with corporate finance advice provided to the management team by Stuart Warriner and Mark Smith at GCA Altium. 

The firm acted on the transaction alongside Clifford Chance and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, who provided legal advice for Cinven and Hg respectively and Baird who provided corporate finance advice to the sellers.

JLA was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Ripponden, West Yorkshire. The business currently works with more than 25,000 SME customers, providing services in the commercial laundry, catering, heating and fire safety markets. It employs 900 staff, including around 300 engineers.

Speaking back in May on the announcement of the sale, Stephen Baxter, chief executive of JLA, said: 'Our focus as a company is on investing in innovative product offerings and expanding our business through both organic growth and acquisitions. We are delighted that Cinven is investing in JLA to support the next phase of our growth.

'The Cinven team has significant experience of investing in and building businesses in the UK and internationally and I am certain they will be instrumental in our future successes.'