Reading: Charity PACT acquires Childlink

Thames Valley leading law firm Blandy & Blandy LLP has advised Parents And Children Together (PACT) on the purchase of the business and assets of The Childlink Adoption Society (Childlink), in a deal for an undisclosed sum.

PACT, headquartered in Reading and employing more than 150 staff, is a voluntary adoption agency, specialising in both domestic and inter-country adoption, fostering, dual approval and post-adoption support.

PACT is one of the Thames Valley’s leading charities working with families to improve the quality of life of their children and to strengthen the communities in which they live. It was founded in 1911 as the social work arm of the Oxford diocese and celebrates its centenary year in 2011. It has operated a successful adoption and fostering agency in the Thames Valley since the 1950s and also handles adoption from overseas for most of Southern England.

Childlink was founded as the Church Adoption Society in 1913 and is regarded as one of the top performing voluntary adoption agencies in the UK. The London-based charity specialises in finding families for children in local authority care who are waiting to be adopted.

The acquisition was prompted by economic challenges faced by Childlink and will see families adopting through the charity transfer to PACT, creating an organisation that is focused on finding permanent families for some of the 5,000 children in care. Childlink’s chief executive Caroline Hesslegrave took retirement prior to the merger and the charity’s nine remaining staff will work under the PACT umbrella.

The Blandy & Blandy team was led by partner and head of the Corporate Team David Few who was responsible for overseeing the entire acquisition. Few was assisted by corporate associate Peter Woolley, with partner Nick Burrows and solicitor Rosie Brass advising on the charity aspects and partner Tim Clark and associate Sukhpal Matharoo advising on the employment matters.

Blandy & Blandy also worked closely with Mark Wilson and Matthew Wild at Baker Tilly Restructuring and Recovery LLP.

Lawrence Graham LLP acted for Childlink.

David Few said: “We are delighted to have advised PACT on the purchase of Childlink. This acquisition ensures that families adopting through Childlink will continue to receive a high quality service and can continue in the adoption process. This was an interesting purchase which required bringing together the skills of a number of different legal areas as well as involvement of administrators on some aspects of the acquisition.”

PACT chief executive Jan Fishwick said: "PACT’s aim has always been to build and strengthen families. This coming together further endorses our belief that securing children’s futures is at the heart of everything we do. Our thanks go to David, Rosie, and Sukhpal who showed real knowledge and expertise of the third sector and the issues involved.”