Reading: Gateley plc advises Brand Events on sale

Gateley plc’s corporate team in Reading advised events and exhibition business Brand Events on the sale of its pet events portfolio to Fitz All Media. 

Fitz All Media was founded in 2009 by Noel Fitzpatrick, best known as The Bionic Vet on BBC1 and Channel 4’s The Supervet.

The portfolio, which includes the ‘National Pet Shows’ and ‘Dogfest’, will complement Fitz All Media’s existing pet events, such as ‘ONE LIVE Festival’ and ‘The Vet Festival’. 

Gateley’s corporate team in Reading also advised Brand Events on the formation of a joint venture with newspaper group Trinity Mirror, which will focus on producing regional consumer events across the UK.

Brand Events has already launched a number of consumer events throughout the UK, with existing shows including ‘The Keswick Mountain Festival’ and ‘Kirstie Allsopp Presents The Handmade Fair’.  As a joint venture, Brand Events expertise will be complemented by Trinity Mirror’s regional press reach to promote both these existing shows and new shows.

The deals were led by corporate senior associate Mark Metcalfe and corporate solicitor Sarah Lake.

Metcalfe said: “Gateley’s corporate team in Reading is continuing to gain traction in the marketplace. We're pleased to have supported Brand Events in facilitating the sale to Fitz All Media and setting up the joint venture with Trinity Mirror and we look forward to working with them on future projects.”

Justin Phillips, director at Brand Events, said: “I have really enjoyed working with Mark and Sarah and their teams on both deals. They were incredibly efficient and provided first -lass advice under tight deadlines and knew exactly how to get a deal done without cutting any corners. It was refreshing to work with lawyers who understood the deal and the commercial aspect of some sensitive areas.”

Gateley’s national corporate team was ranked first for deal volume in the Experian Corpfin M&A Advisor League Table for the first half of 2016. The team had been ranked top for the first quarter in 2016 and managed to maintain its position for the half-year thanks to their involvement in 64 deals.

The positive first half in 2016 has seen the corporate team build on an impressive 2015, in which it helped deliver more than 200 significant deals with an aggregate deal value in excess of £1.4 billion.