Charles Russell Speechlys advises FPE Capital on the acquisition of IWSR
Charles Russell Speechlys has advised long-standing client FPE Capital, on the acquisition of System Three Communications (London) Limited (t/a IWSR), the leading supplier of data and market intelligence on alcoholic drinks markets worldwide.
Headquartered in London and with a US office in New York, over the last 40 years, IWSR has built up the world’s largest database on the alcoholic beverage market, providing its clients with access to category and brand performance in 157 countries, using local market input.
FPE will work closely with IWSR’s management team, who will remain investors in the business and will be led by chief executive officer Mark Meek, who took up the role four years ago (formerly holding the same position at market intelligence provider Datamonitor and digital media company Progressive Digital Media.)
Partner, Malcolm MacDougall, commented: “We were delighted to advise FPE Capital in relation to the acquisition of IWSR. This is the first FPE investment of 2018 and follows FPE’s three successful exits earlier this year (which we have been delighted to advise on), including the realisation of payments services provider, Creditcall for a 4.2x return and the sale of Small World for 3x return. It was a pleasure working with the FPE team once again and with the team at IWSR. We look forward to seeing the business grow from strength to strength.”
David Barbour, Managing Partner at FPE Capital commented: “We are delighted to have closed our third investment in our £100m FPE Fund II. We believe the IWSR business has huge potential and a team that can exploit this. We are grateful to the Charles Russell Speechlys team for their continued high quality advice and support.”
The Charles Russell Speechlys core team included Corporate Partner and Head of Private Equity Malcolm MacDougall, Corporate associates Lucy Thorpe, Nicola Baird, Julia Chan and Dafni Loizou and members of the firm’s Corporate Tax and Banking teams.
