Moorcrofts has recently advised LHi Group Limited (the “Company”), an international recruitment and talent provider on a share capital restructure and sale of approximately 80% of the Company’s issued share capital to an Employee Ownership Trust (“EOT”), which follows a growing trend of companies becoming employee owned.

The business of the Company was founded by Tom Glanfield around 20 years ago and, since then, the Company has become a leading recruitment provider with multiple brands (including Lawrence Harvey, SciPro, Piper Maddox, Harper Harrison and XPS) in a variety of sectors such as Life Sciences, Renewables and IT.  The Company has multiple offices across the UK, USA and Germany and in recent years, the business has seen turnover hit $100m.

The EOT structure will allow the Company to build on its recent successes by placing the indirect ownership of the Company with employees, ultimately giving them a stake in the business, which is likely to support and encourage employee retention and engagement. In addition, the existing board and management team of LHi will continue in their roles in the business to enable them to build on recent successes and to follow through with growth aspirations.

Moorcrofts’ corporate partner, Will Pearce, led the transaction with support from Peter Woolley (partner) and Mo Shabbir (corporate associate solicitor).

Will Pearce said:

“LHi Group are a long standing client and we are very pleased to have supported them through this process. Tom and his team have worked incredibly hard over the last 2 decades to build a reputable and respected brand, and we hope the new structure will allow them to continue this”.

Edward Parkes, CFO, said the following:

“It is an exciting time for the company and its employees and we are absolutely delighted to have completed the move to the EOT structure.  Our employees are incredibly important to us and we are pleased that they can participate in the benefits that arise from our aggressive growth plans.  Will and the team at Moorcrofts have advised our company on multiple projects over many years and we are grateful again to have had their assistance on closing out this project”.

Grant Thornton advised the shareholders on the EOT structure, including corporate finance, debt advisory, tax, valuations and modelling.

Moorcrofts regularly acts for buyers, sellers and investors across a broad range of industry sectors. With a wide array of clients, from PLCs and household names to sole traders and partnerships, Moorcrofts has the expertise to advise on all aspects of corporate transactions. For more information about Moorcrofts corporate services, visit our corporate services page or contact a member of the corporate team.