Lancashire ‘gem’, The Shard Riverside Inn, will be ‘brought back to where it was’, after it was acquired by the Taziker family.

Nigel Taziker, who lives five minutes away from the well-known hotel, bar and restaurant, led the deal alongside his father, Tom.

The family will make an initial investment to refurbish the property, but insist it is ‘business as usual’.

Nigel commented: “The Shard Riverside Inn is a real gem in the local area and a place we know extremely well. When the opportunity came up to buy it, we couldn’t say no.

“We are in the process of bringing The Shard Riverside back to where it was through a significant investment programme. While it will be business as usual for all our loyal customers, the aim is to work alongside our team, as we look to breathe new life into the hotel.”

The Taziker family was advised on the deal by Pannone Corporate. The transaction was led by Gareth Birch, associate partner in the firm’s real estate team. He said: “We’ve worked alongside Nigel and his family for a number of years and we’re delighted to have supported them on a deal that clearly means a lot – not just to the family, but to the local community.

“Everyone is invested in the future The Shard Riverside and the Taziker family’s investment means this local institution will continue to be an important fixture on the banks of the River Wyre.”

The 23-bedroom hotel, bar and restaurant is located near the market town of Poulton-le-Fylde in the village of Hambleton. Dating back to 1766, the building – named after the nearby Shard Bridge – was a ferryman’s cottage known as Shard House. In the Victorian times, author of Black Beauty, Anna Sewell, was known to often visit her relatives who lived at the property.

Pannone Corporate has advised APRIL Group, the leading wholesale insurance broker in France and Europe, on the cross-border acquisition of Lexham Insurance, a specialist two-wheeler insurance broker.

Lexham was established in 1999 and has since become a leading provider of moped, scooter and motorcycle insurance in the UK.

The acquisition reinforces APRIL’s ambition to expand its international footprint in specialist personal property and casualty (P&C) niche insurance, such as two-wheeler insurance, building on its presence in France and Spain. As part of the deal, Lexham CEO, James Miller, will continue to lead the business with his team.

Pannone’s corporate team included partner Tom Hall who co-led the deal with director Andrew Walsh, with further support from Belinda Cheung and Georgina Bligh-Smith.

Hall said: “This is a fantastic deal to kick the year off with – one that demonstrates the continued appetite of overseas investors and trade buyers, seeking to scale their operations internationally through strategic buy and build opportunities.

“APRIL has built up an excellent reputation in the European two-wheeler insurance sector and the acquisition of Lexham Insurance marks an important step in expanding its presence in the UK market.”

APRIL has a network of over 15,000 partner brokers internationally. With 2,400 employees, the company provides health and personal protection insurance, loan insurance, international health insurance (iPMI), property and casualty niche insurance and savings in investment products.

Marc-André Dupont, Head of APRIL Group property and casualty division, said: “We share Lexham’s passion for customer service and its recognised expertise in network management. With James Miller, who will continue to lead Lexham, we have begun to identify synergies that will enable us to create value across Europe.”

Lexham Insurance offers in excess of 20 different insurance products, including quad insurance, car insurance for motorcyclists, motorhome and camper, as well as motor trade and commercial insurance. It employs 200 employees across three UK offices.

Other advisors on the deal were:

• Charles Pétré and Olivier Cœnon of Caurus Partners (buy-side: corporate finance)
• Jenny Pape at Azets (buy-side: tax and structuring)
• Josh Bates at O’Connors (buy-side: regulatory)
• Osborne Clarke (sellers – legal )
• Grant Thornton (sellers – corporate finance).

Photo credit: Milos Muller

PLG International Lawyers firms, Lamy Lexel and Pannone Corporate, have advised on the cross-border acquisition of UK-based eProcurement software company, Market Dojo.

The two firms were legal advisers to global cloud platform Esker, which has acquired a majority stake in Market Dojo. Esker, which is listed on the Euronext Growth market in Paris, has purchased 50.1% of the shares and voting rights in Market Dojo, with an option to acquire the remainder of the shares after a period of four years.

The Pannone team, led by Tom Hall (corporate Partner), Andrew Walsh and Behzad Borang, worked alongside Lamy Lexel, its PLG partner in Lyon, who provided French law support to Esker on the transaction. Frédéric Dupont (corporate Partner), Typhanie Le Gall and Pauline Philippon led the corporate team at Lamy Lexel.

Esker, which is headquartered in Lyon, France, is a global cloud platform and leader in AI-driven process automation solutions for finance and customer service functions.

Tom Hall said: “Esker is a world leader in cloud and AI-driven technology, with a significant footprint across North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

“This strategic acquisition will undoubtedly strengthen Esker’s presence in the UK, while offering significant international development opportunities. It will also build on the company’s capabilities in traditional markets by enabling Esker to bring eSourcing into its platform proposition. It is, as ever, a pleasure to work alongside Lamy Lexel on another successful transaction.

Frédéric Dupont said: ”Lamy Lexel is delighted to be able to support Esker and its teams, for which we handle the day-to-day market regulation aspects, in a strategic international acquisition. It is a renewed pleasure to collaborate with the Pannone team on sensitive operations in a friendly environment.”

Market Dojo’s eSourcing cloud solution was created to address the need for structured and digitised processes in procurement. Designed by procurement professionals, Market Dojo’s unique on-demand solution enables users to centralise information, negotiate the best value for goods and services, and select the right suppliers.

Jean-Michel Bérard, CEO at Esker, said: “We are pleased to welcome Market Dojo to the Esker family. This acquisition provides new growth opportunities in a developing market and strengthens Esker’s positioning in the global Procure-to-Pay (P2P) arena. Additionally, Market Dojo is an excellent illustration of Esker’s strategy to invest in organic growth combined with targeted acquisitions that offer a high potential for growth.”

Mazars provided financial due diligence and tax support to Esker. Advisors to the shareholders of Market Dojo were: Ryecroft Glenton (corporate finance and tax) and Simon Muirhead Burton (legal).