Management Buyout of Crown Paints

August 2008

Property and finance lawyers at Walker Morris are acting on the management buyout of Crown Paints, one of Britain's best known paint brands.

Endless, the UK based investment fund, has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Crown Paints from Dutch group, Akzo Nobel. The transaction is subject to formal approval from the European Competition Commission, which is expected within the next two months.

The transaction was led by Endless’ Manchester office (Warwick Ley and Neil Baishnab) and Endless were advised on the corporate aspects of the acquisition by a team from DLA in Manchester (Jonathan Watkins and Paul Rimmer). Walker Morris advised Endless on property and structuring aspects. The Walker Morris property team was led by partners Austin Judson and Jeremy Moore and the Walker Morris finance team was led by partners Ian Akitt and Peter Considine, with partner Simon Concannon and associate Simon Hardcastle providing advice on tax and structuring aspects.

Commenting on the transaction, Austin Judson said:

"Walker Morris has worked very closely with Endless for a number of years and we are pleased to be able to support them on this deal. With their investment and support in the business and the strong Crown brand, we see Crown having a very bright future."

Crown Paints, which has its head office in Darwen, Lancashire, employs 1,500 people and has factories in Darwen and Hull.