South East firms facilitate Kester Capital’s sale of VIXIO to Perwyn

By Sam Pither

14 December 2022

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Two firms with operations in South East England have played important roles in Kester Capital’s sale of VIXIO to Perwyn – a deal which delivered Kester a 4.8x return on investment.

Lawyers in Osborne Clarke’s Reading office advised Kester and its management team on the sale of regulatory and business intelligence provider VIXIO to the European private equity investor.

Private equity partners Tim Hewens and Reading-based Mike Freer led the Osborne Clarke team which included associate director Will Nicholson, senior associate Beth Shingfield and associate Jack Harris. Tax advice was provided by partner David Nisbet and associate director Rob Thomas.

KPMG Corporate Finance acted as lead financial advisor to Kester Capital. The KPMG team consisted of Nenad Simonovic, Graham Pearce, Ekrem Shahin, Alastair Scott, Ioana Medelet, Narjeet Singh, Sasha Karombo, and Tara Moore.

Perwyn was advised by Cardean Bell (M&A), Gowling WLG (Legal), Deloitte, which has offices in Reading, Southampton and Milton Keynes (FDD and Tax), PwC, which has offices in Reading and Southampton (Commercial Due Diligence), Xaeus Blue (Technology Due Diligence), Partners&, which has offices in Reading, Wiltshire, Surrey and Oxford (Insurance DD), and Locktons, which has offices in Brighton (W&I).

Along with the 4.8x return on investment, the deal will deliver an internal rate of return of more than 60 per cent. It is also the Kester sixth consecutive exit to deliver more than 3x return on investment, with the more than 8x return on the sale of Avania earlier this year representing a notable high point.

Adam Maidment, Managing Partner at Kester Capital, said: “We would like to thank Mike Woolfrey, VIXIO’s CEO, and his team for their phenomenal efforts over the last three years in building the business into the world’s leading provider of regulatory intelligence within its target sectors.

“It has been a pleasure to have worked with such a high quality business and we wish the management team every success for the future.”

Mike Woolfrey, CEO of VIXIO, said: “We are delighted to have achieved this successful exit for the current shareholders and want to thank Kester for their support and collaboration over the last three years.

“We are excited about welcoming Perwyn as new majority shareholders in the business and are excited about the potential for VIXIO as we start a new chapter.”

Gurinder Sunner, Partner at Perwyn, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with the VIXIO team and support their ambitious growth plans. Already the market leader, we will be investing to enhance and increase the product offering and geographic coverage whilst maintaining and enhancing its leading reputation as the go to provider for regulatory intelligence in both the payments and gambling market.

“We look forward to working with Mike and the team.”

Featured image: iStock

By Sam Pither

Sam is the Regional Editor of Biz News, responsible for both Hampshire and Dorset.

A new recruit to journalism, Sam started writing for the Business Magazine as a freelancer in May of 2022 after completing his degree in English at University College London. His passion for local businesses and ability to tell a story soon caught the attention of the publication’s management team and have led to his meteoric rise.

Sam, who lives in central Reading, takes a particular interest in technology, gaming and food and drink, having been a chef before starting his degree.