Contributors
Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has advised on the sale of Lewmar Marine, implemented by way of a scheme of arrangement, under which Lippert Components, Inc. (LCI) acquired the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Lewmar for £33.286 million.
LCI operates across more than 65 manufacturing and distribution facilities located in the US, Canada, Italy, Ireland and the UK, with 2018 annual sales of $2.5bn (£1.9bn).
Lewmar is an international supplier of anchoring systems, hatches and portlights, steering and sail control systems, glazing systems and related deck hardware. Lewmar is headquartered in Havant, but also has a strong US presence with a sales and distribution facility in Guilford, Connecticut.
Overall, Lewmar has 300 employees and posted sales for the year ending December 2018 of £56m, up 12% over 2017.
Lewmar was previously listed on Ofex and the transaction was subject to the UK Takeover Code.
WBD's corporate partners Sebastian Briggs and Leon Miller advised on the transaction, with support from WBD's tax, employment and commercial teams. WBD US advised on US securities laws. Lewmar is a Scottish company and partner Philip Knight and managing associate Lisa Dromgoole, based in WBD's Edinburgh office, led on the application to the Court of Session to approve the scheme.
Spectrum Corporate Finance (Simon Davies and Darren Miller) provided corporate finance advice to Lewmar and BDO LLP (Susan Jarram) were the Rule 3 adviser.
Sebastian Briggs commented:
“We are pleased to have advised Lewmar on this significant transaction. It has been a real privilege to support the management team through the next stage of Lewmar's long and illustrious history."
Peter Tierney, Chairman and CEO of Lewmar, added:
"We have been working with WBD for many years and are very grateful for their continued commitment and counsel. Sebastian and the wider team's understanding of our business played an important role in helping us execute a smooth transaction."
Ranking in the UK's top 20 law firms, WBD provides legal expertise in eleven key sectors from across eight offices in the UK, including London and 19 offices in the US. The firm has a large corporate practice in the UK advising national and international clients on a broad range of corporate transactions, particularly M&A, IPOs, private equity investments, growth and development capital, and public company fundraisings.
