Clarke Willmott advises on sale of home delivery firm

National law firm, Clarke Willmott LLP has advised on the sale of Panther Logistics, a home delivery firm with a £60m turnover.

Clarke Willmott’s corporate team advised the management of Panther Logistics, the UK’s largest independent “two-man” home delivery business, on its sale to US group AIT Worldwide Logistics.

Having previously acted for the management team on their management buyout in 2016, Colin McCarthy, Executive Director of Panther, and his team returned to Clarke Willmott for advice on the sale to the global transport group.

In the intervening period, the business more than doubled sales and counts amongst its customers the likes of Wayfair, Silentnight, Samsung and Decathlon.

The Clarke Willmott team was led by corporate partners Simon Smith and Kirill Bingham with support from Niall Murphy (Tax) and Tim Copplestone (Employment).

Simon Smith said: “Panther is a great success story and it has been a pleasure advising the management team on the sale to AIT. It is always nice to follow clients to the next stage of a company’s development and we were delighted that Colin and the team chose to instruct us again.

“The growth (both in sales and profits) achieved by the group since the management buyout in 2016 is remarkable and with AIT’s support we look forward to seeing this trajectory continue, further reinforcing the firm position as the UK market leader in specialist two-man delivery.”

Colin McCarthy said: “The Clarke Willmott team, led by Simon Smith and Kirill Bingham, were the obvious choice to advise me and my team on the sale of Panther to AIT Worldwide Logistics. Having previously acted for us on our, LDC -backed, management buyout in 2016, we were confident in their ability and their commitment to get the deal done. Working to some tight deadlines, they once again provided invaluable support and guidance throughout the process and are highly recommended”.

Other advisers on the transaction were Eversheds Sutherland and White & Case.

Clarke Willmott is a national law firm with seven offices across the country in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton and Taunton. For more information visit www.clarkewillmott.com