Bevan Brittan advises the Canal & River Trust on the sale of its marinas business

Bevan Brittan has advised the Canal & River Trust in the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary, British Waterways Marinas Limited (BWML), to private equity investor LDC.

Set up in 2004, BWML operates 18 marinas across England, with more than 2,500 moorings across its sites.

LDC is the UK’s leading mid-market private equity investor. It is committed to backing ambitious management teams from companies across the UK and has a portfolio of 90 businesses across a broad range of sectors.

Bevan Brittan advised the Canal & River Trust in relation to the sale. This included working with BDO, the corporate finance advisors on the deal, to structure the deal, and establish an auction process for the sale. Bevan Brittan helped evaluate the bids received and advised the Trust in negotiating and completing the deal with the preferred bidder, LDC.

In addition to the auction process and commercial due diligence, Bevan Brittan’s work encompassed a broad range of areas including corporate finance, banking, property, pensions and employment advice.

The property aspects of the deal were particularly extensive, with Bevan Brittan advising the Trust on the lease arrangements across BWML’s marina sites.

Bevan Brittan corporate partner Chris Harper and property partner David Hobbs led the work. David Hobbs has a longstanding relationship with the Canal & River Trust, having advised for the Trust for over ten years on day-to-day estate management issues and on its property investment acquisitions and disposals.

Chris Harper and David Hobbs said: “We were delighted to advise the Canal & River Trust in this key transaction. The deal involved many aspects and we were pleased to be able to deliver a team to advise across relevant areas, showing the strength in depth that we possess as a firm.”