Murgitroyd bought for £63m

Murgitroyd Group, Scotland’s only listed firm of patent and trademark attorneys, has been bought for £62.8 million by Sovereign Capital Partners.

The Scottish firm is being acquired by Project Petra Bidco, a newly incorporated entity indirectly controlled by funds managed by Sovereign Capital Partners LLP, for 675p a share.

Bidco “does not intend to effect any headcount reductions within Murgitroyd as a result of the acquisition and expects that existing employees of Murgitroyd will continue to contribute to Murgitroyd’s ongoing success”.

It comes after Murgitroyd said earlier this week that it was in advanced discussions with Sovereign Capital Partners to acquire the business, in a move that would take it off the stock market.

Ian Murgitroyd, who founded the Glasgow-based firm in 1975 and holds the chairman role, said: “Almost 20 years since Murgitroyd Shares were admitted to trading on Aim, the board of Murgitroyd is pleased to have reached agreement on an offer which provides an opportunity to engineer an orderly ownership transition for all shareholders in the Murgitroyd Group and the certainty of an immediate cash return which fairly reflects the near term prospects for the group. Sovereign’s evident commitment to support the Murgitroyd Group as it continues to invest to build scale in a fast-changing market and the particular importance attached by them to the skills and experience of the Murgitroyd Group employees and management team were key factors in the Murgitroyd directors’ considerations.

“I am delighted to confirm that the board intends unanimously to recommend the offer to shareholders.”

Last month, Murgitroyd said that in the year to November, revenue increased 5 per cent to some £22.7m, while pretax profit grew to £1.7m from £1.67m in the prior 12 months.