Bruce Dunlop & Associates (United Kingdom) - Jan 2008

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01 January 2008

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Octopus Investments has supported the £15m buyout of Bruce Dunlop & Associates (BDA). Octopus has acquired a minority stake in the business in return for a £5m investment from its equity and mezzanine funds. As part of the deal, Octopus has committed a further £2m funding line to support the planned international expansion of the business and to make strategic acquisitions. Baker Tilly managed a sale process for BDA and introduced the deal to Octopus which won the mandate against a number of other parties including both trade and private equity. Other than the mezzanine facility provided by Octopus, there was no new debt involved on the transaction. The opportunity to invest in an award-winning successful design business attracted Octopus to the deal – BDA has won several awards for a range of campaigns including promotions for the National Geographic Channel, ITV2 and Hallmark.

Company

BDA provides promotion and design services to broadcasters and advertisers worldwide and also creates brand films and internal communications for leading UK corporations. The company was established in 1999 and in 2007 recorded revenues of nearly £9m and employs 100 staff. It operates out of offices in London, Munich, Dubai, Singapore and Sydney. BDA has a range of blue-chip customers including Hallmark, Barclays, Discovery and Sony.

People

Andrew Cavaghan led the deal for Octopus with Purvi Sapre. Cavaghan joins the board of BDA. Octopus intends to appoint a new non-executive chairman in due course. Bruce Dunlop is the group creative director and co-founded of BDA alongside Honor Barratt, the group managing director.

Advisers

Equity - Berwin Leighton Paisner, Andrew Barber, Emma Bullivant, Ian Ivory, Sheena Verma (Legal)Equity - CIL , Carolyn Jenkins, Geoff Rampton (Commercial Due Diligence)Equity - Grant Thornton, Alex Hyde, Peter Dawson, Sarah White (Financial Due Diligence)Equity - Wragge & Co, Neil Pearson (Legal)Management - Baker Tilly - Due diligence, Ali Aneizi, Dan Buchan, Robert Donaldson (Corporate Finance)Management - Olswang, Amy Harvey, Stephen Rosen (Legal)