International law firm Eversheds has advised leading private equity firm LDC and other selling shareholders on the sale of portfolio company Ascend Worldwide Group Holdings to Reed Business Information (RBI), the business information division of Reed Elsevier.
Ascend, a provider of data analytics and advisory services to investors in the aerospace, will become part of Flightglobal, RBI’s aerospace information and data services business.
LDC acquired Ascend in 2005 when it backed the management buyout of Airclaims, an aviation claims provider. LDC then brought in a management team to spin out a new company from the former information and consultancy arm of Airclaims, creating Ascend in 2006.
The Eversheds team was led by partner Richard Moulton (pictured), assisted by associate Nicola Evans and solicitor Anthony Cross.
Moulton says: “This is an exciting deal which combines two market leaders in the aviation data business. We look forward to advising LDC on future transactions as they continue to back professional, innovative and entrepreneurial management teams.”
Yann Souillard, Managing Director for LDC’s Southern Region, says: “Ascend is a great business with a superb management team, and has always been focused upon following a growth and development strategy. LDC has always been fully supportive of this. The new relationship with Reed will provide them with another platform to take the business even further, and we wish them every success for the future. As our legal advisers, Eversheds played a key part in ensuring a successful exit for all stakeholders. They were very responsive and gave timely and considered advice at every step of the process.”
