Knights advises Journeo on capital raising and £8.7m acquisition

Knights’ Corporate team advised the shareholders of Journeo plc, one of the UK’s top providers of information and tech services for public transport, on the acquisition of IGL Limited for circa £8.7m.

IGL Limited, and its subsidiaries trading as Infotec, is the UK’s leading rail passenger information equipment provider, with over 15,000 displays in operation and coverage of 80 per cent of the rail network serving more than two million rail passengers a day.

The deal sees Infotec become part of Leicestershire-headquartered Journeo group and is expected to add approximately £12m of sales and approximately £2m of pre-tax profit to the enlarged group in the first full year following completion of the acquisition .

Knights’ team supported AIM-listed Journeo to raise £7m to fund the deal by way of a placing and subscription of 6.6m new shares on the exchange and a retail offer to existing shareholders of Journeo.

Both the placing and the retail offer were significantly over-subscribed a testament to the confidence of investors in Journeo and the enlarged group.

Russ Singleton, chief executive officer of Journeo, commented: “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Infotec, a leader in the rail passenger displays market. The Fundraising enables Journeo to welcome new institutional and retail investors as well as supporting existing shareholders in increasing the value of their investment.

“Karen and the team at Knights were with us every step of the way, from the early stages of the deal negotiations, working seamlessly with us and our NOMAD and broker Cenkos as we successfully raised the finance and completed the acquisition.”

Knights’ team was led by corporate partner Karen Procter, with support from corporate associate Matthew Hitchen and paralegal Mohammed Bagas. specialist commercial support was provided by partners Rebecca Moore and Karyn Palmer, employment law advice by Jonathan Royle and real estate support from Rachel McIlroy.

Karen Procter, corporate partner at Knights, said: “It has been an absolute pleasure to advise and work with Russ Singleton, Nick Lowe and the board at Journeo on this important acquisition and fundraising. The acquisition process was long running and technically detailed at times so we are delighted to help bring it to a positive conclusion for Journeo.

“We have also enjoyed working with the Company’s nominated adviser and broker Cenkos Securities plc on such a successful fundraising. The future now looks very bright for the enlarged Journeo group.”

Knights is one of the fastest-growing legal and professional services businesses in the UK ranked within the top 50 UK law firms by revenue, with specialists in all key areas of corporate and commercial law.

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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