News & Events | News

Wednesday 22nd December 2004

SJ Berwin advised Equinox Converged Solutions Limited, an investee company of funds advised by Apax Partners, on the recent acquisition of Synetrix Limited for an undisclosed sum.

Equinox, a company incorporated in January 1998, is the UK's premier provider of public sector broadband solutions and network services. Equinox is the provider of voice, video and data services over a managed broadband network, with a specialist focus on the Public Sector and Education. The majority of state-maintained schools in London rely on Equinox's network for their data connections through the London Grid for Learning.

Equinox also provides broadband services to Local Education Authorities, London Borough Councils, libraries, independent schools and other educational and public sector establishments, and is poised to be the public services network for the capital.

Apax Partners is one of the world's leading private equity investment groups, operating across Europe, Israel, the United States and Japan. With over 30 years of direct investing experience, Apax Partners' funds provide long-term equity financing to entrepreneurs to build and strengthen world-class companies. It pursues a balanced equity portfolio strategy, investing in venture capital and buy-outs.

SJ Berwin corporate partner Perry Yam led the SJ Berwin team, assisted by corporate assistants Angela Newton, Will Holder and Sophie McGrath.

Perry Yam said: "We are delighted to have advised Equinox on this substantial transaction. We advised Apax Partners' Funds on its original investment in Equinox a year ago and are delighted that we had managed to sufficiently impress the CEO, Angus Merelie, at the time, to be retained to advise him and the Company on this acquisition."

SJ Berwin's market leading fund formation and deals teams are able to provide a seamless deal service, drawing on their detailed knowledge of the complex fund structuring requirements in implementing corporate transactions. SJ Berwin advised on more completed buy-outs in Europe in the first half of 2004 than any other law firm, and in the last 12 months advised on 34 completed buy-outs with a total value of over £4.35 billion.

• SJ Berwin is a full-service international legal practice with more than 450 lawyers across its offices in London, Brussels, Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Madrid and Paris.
  
• With a dedicated European private equity team comprising over 140 full-time corporate private equity lawyers together with support from its other departments, SJ Berwin advises clients on the full-range of private equity business, both in connection with the establishment of private equity funds and their associated incentive schemes, and on MBOs, MBIs, public-to-privates and venture capital investments.
  
• SJ Berwin has just been named "Law Firm of the Year" 2004 at the EVCA/Real Deals European Private Equity Awards. This follows hard on the heels of our Paris office being named "Private Equity Law Firm of the Year" 2004 at the Finance and Law Awards in Paris in October of this year. Corporate partner Rob Day was named "Legal Adviser of the Year" at the BVCA/Real Deals Private Equity Awards 2004, and our Head of Private Equity, Jonathan Blake, was admitted to the "Hall of Fame" for his services to the private equity industry over the last 20 years at the same ceremony. SJ Berwin won the Chambers Global Award for "Western Europe: Private Equity - Law firm of the Year" 2003, as well as the Acquisitions Monthly award for "Mid-Market Law Firm of the Year" 2003 and the European Venture Capital Journal Award for "Private Equity Law Firm of the Year: Firm & fund work". It was also recently ranked as the "World's Leading Firm for Private Funds Expertise" in The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers 2003/4 and in 2004 was named at The European Private Equity Awards - for the third year running - "Best Law Firm (documentation)" by subscribers to PrivateEquity Online and Private Equity International.
  
• SJ Berwin won the European Venture Capital Journal Award for Private Equity Law Firm of the Year 2000, Law Firm of the Year and Property Team of the Year at The Lawyer Awards 2000, and Competition Team of the Year at the Legal Business Awards 2000.