We have advised the management shareholders and founder of group.ONE, one of the leading European online solutions providers, on the sale of the group and their ongoing equity participation in the business.
Having previously advised the group.ONE management shareholders and founder on the initial sale of group.ONE to Cinven Fund VI, we have now advised the same parties on both the sale of group.ONE to Cinven Fund VII and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, and their ongoing equity participation in the business. The transaction signed on 3 December 2022, with completion occurring on 22 March 2023 following the satisfaction of customary regulatory and antitrust approvals.
group.ONE is a leading European provider of online presence solutions via mass hosting and software products to around 1.6 million customers through brands including one.com, Hostnet and WP Media. Headquartered in Sweden, group.ONE operates across a number of European countries and has strong positions in the Nordic and Benelux mass hosting markets.
Cinven and Ontario have combined group.ONE and the dogado group, a provider of online presence solutions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, to create a pan-European champion in the web hosting and domains market, with one-stop-shop solutions to support SMEs with their online presence and success.
Commenting on the transaction private equity partner at Taylor Wessing, James Goold said: “It has been a pleasure to work with the shareholders and founder of group.ONE again on another successful transaction. We wish the company, its shareholders and the management team all the very best for this next phase in the business’ development."
Stephan Wolfram, CEO of group.ONE said: “group.ONE has achieved significant growth over the last four years. Working in partnership with Cinven enabled us to boost organic growth and to invest in our products and services for the benefit of our customers. It's great to work with James, Duncan, Emma and the team at Taylor Wessing. We're always impressed with their level of support and the extent of their expertise on these complex transactions. Their ability to collaborate seamlessly with us and everyone involved, and the unwavering support they provided throughout process was remarkable.”
The deal was led by partner James Goold who advised on the sale with support from associates Omar Amin and Alex Stones and trainee solicitors Akash Jamang and David Stuart. The equity team was led by consultant Duncan McDonald and partner Emma Danks with support from senior associate Bryce Bartlett and associates Stephanie Russell and Angela Petrevska.
Additional support was provided by partner Liz Wilson and associate Freddie Knottenbelt in the tax team, partner Sian Skelton in the commercial technology and data team and from senior associate Nick Maday in the disputes and investigations team and paralegals Savannah Swale, Ryan Lysycia and Jamie Mehta in the corporate team.
