OJ, a health-and-safety consultancy company based in Ossett, West Yorkshire, was founded in 2007. It offers clients services such as training, assessment, and consultancy. The company has created a package of retained services consisting of agreements lasting one to three years to provide 24-hour support for clients. Additional offerings include fire safety, asbestos assessments, health assessments, and accident investigations.
Newable Compliance has acquired a majority stake of OJ. Newable Compliance invests in businesses for the long term, with a particular focus on helping SMEs meet their compliance obligations. The company targets three to four businesses per year. Newable Compliance’s investment portfolio is expanded with this acquisition. OJ now has the resources necessary to expand its services to a larger audience of SMEs.
Mackrell Solicitors provided advice to the OJ shareholders with a team that was led by Guvvy Andhu, a consultant solicitor and James McKimm, a corporate associate.
Interview with Guvvy Andhu, Mackrell Solicitors
Please tell us more about this investment and how your team helped to facilitate it.
We acted on behalf of the shareholders at OJ. We were responsible for empowering the shareholders, explaining to them in plain English the meaning of a majority stake. This would help to clarify what it meant to the shareholders at the completion and also after the sale.
It is important to understand the complex legal terms and jargon used in a transaction.
We reviewed the two steps on behalf of the investors: the completion of the investment, and the future in terms of the retained interest. We guided and explained to the shareholders what Newable expected from them as their new “business partners” (to coin an expression) and how this would translate in the paperwork.
What makes OJ a good investment for Newable Compliance and what aspects of its business make it so?
Newable found it particularly interesting that OJ’s revenues were primarily based on contracts, which is a very attractive proposition for potential buyers when they consider how quickly the investment can be recovered. The shareholders found this equally attractive, since there was a significant divergence in the costs of traditional funding and investor demand.
We also informed and guided our shareholders on what to expect from Newable with regards to their investment and retained interest. This transaction was a bi-directional process.
The shareholders were particularly interested in the ability to stay with the company, where they had played a major role, and the flexibility of the investment, since it was important to consider what the future would hold for them personally. Every business has a human behind it, with a unique story. This story is often the catalyst for a deal.