Reading: Osborne Clarke advises Founders Factory on launch of M&S joint venture

International legal practice Osborne Clarke, which has offices in Forbury Place, Reading, has advised Founders Factory on the launch of Founders Factory Retail, a joint venture with Marks & Spencer (M&S) focused on investing and growing start-ups.

The collaboration with Founders Factory will provide M&S with a world-class digital partner and will give M&S direct access to cutting-edge technologies through investment in talented entrepreneurs and businesses

M&S will become Founders Factory’s exclusive UK retail partner, and invest in a number of start-ups, sourced through Founders Factory’s global network, which will expose the business to new technologies, business models and entrepreneurial thinking, as it seeks to put digital at the heart of its transformation strategy. M&S will become the majority shareholder within the JV in due course, which will build a portfolio of investments in fast growth start-ups, which it will seek to grow and scale.

Founders Factory is a longstanding client of Osborne Clarke. The firm has previously advised Founders Factory on investments from (among others) Guardian Media Group, L’Oreal, easyJet, Aviva and Holtzbrinck Publishing. Corporate partner Mathias Loertscher and associate director Ken Wilkinson led the Osborne Clarke team advising Founders Factory, together with corporate associate John Jarvis and Reading-based commercial senior associate Joanne Loveridge.

M&S was advised by Slaughter and May.

Osborne Clarke’s corporate team is considered the go-to practice for many businesses in the technology sector, working with leading global businesses, fast-growth start-ups and market challengers. The team advises at every stage of company development across all corporate areas, from equity and debt fundraising to M&A, IPOs and JVs.