Clegg Gifford

Blake-Turner advised Clegg Gifford, the Lloyds insurance broker, in relation to its acquisition of Westminster, the direct distribution business of Tradex Insurance. The deal and restructuring was supported by a £11 million senior debt facility from Investec.

The combined entity of Clegg Gifford and Westminster now has gross written premiums worth almost £70 million, making it the country’s largest specialist motor trade broker.

Clegg Gifford, the Westminster business and Tradex are regulated by the Prudential Regulatory Authority. Further, a proportion of the lending by Investec was unsecured. Blake-Turner undertook a substantial legal due diligence exercise with regards to Clegg Gifford and the Westminster business, upon which Investec relied at completion.

We took great care to keep the company up to date at all times by producing a “roadmap” of pre- and post-completion matters. This provided a chronology to ensure that all members of the board, the senior managers, and Investec understood at all times the structure of the entire transaction and what was required every individual both pre- and post-completion.

Concord Corporate Finance was the corporate finance adviser. Peter Blake-Turner and Paul Cooper were the lead partners on the deal in the corporate department at Blake-Turner, assisted by Sophie Gallant. BLP acted for Investec.