Challenge

Invitation Digital Limited, owned the Vouchercloud brand which is the second largest voucher site in the UK. It also had growing operations around the rest of the world and GiftCloud, the digital disruptor to the gift card industry which offers innovative solutions to a £3.5bn market place.

In 2011, Vodafone made a strategic investment in Invitation Digital Limited, which quickly moved to a staged acquisition set to conclude in 2017. Vouchercloud was set to become a core part of Vodafone’s strategy to own the digital wallet. However, shortly into the five year period a change of strategy at Vodafone board level saw a refocus of the business to core telephony. When the final stage of the acquisition came around, Vodafone and the original founders agreed that they would buy back Invitation Digital and return it to independent ownership.

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Solution

Deal structuring

A complex deal involving several stages, many shareholders and numerous tax hurdles. Shaw & Co. assisted the management team to navigate these challenges and deliver the most efficient transaction.

Debt Advisory

We arranged an eight figure senior secured debt facility to fund the transaction alongside management investment. We ran a competitive process to identify both the best priced and most flexible facility for the business.

Board support

Following the transaction Shaw & Co. continue to support management in their interactions with the debt provider. Jim Shaw has joined the board of the new holding company to providing wider financial oversight and input to the development of the businesses strategy.

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Results

We successfully enabled Vochercloud’s original owners to buy back the business they originally sold to Vodafone in 2012, returning it to independent ownership.

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testimonial

"Shaw & Co have been key to helping us to achieve this fantastic result - throughout the process we have been impressed by their ideas, enthusiasm and the quality of service that we received. So much so that we will continue to work with them on developing the business in the coming years."

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For business owners like us seeking a long-term partner to help build their business I highly recommend speaking to Shaw & Co."

Scott Davidson & Greg Le Tocq
Co-Founders, Vouchercloud