International legal practice Osborne Clarke has advised Telespazio UK, a subsidiary of Telespazio (a joint venture between Leonardo, 67%, and Thales, 33%), on its acquisition of leading UK independent space systems engineering and consultancy group e2E Group.
With over 45 years of heritage in the UK marketplace, Telespazio UK has a track record of success delivering systems, services and engineering support to the European Space Agency (ESA), European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), space primes, and national civil and defence customers.
e2E Group is a leading UK independent space systems engineering and consultancy group who provide high calibre and bespoke technical support and expertise.
The addition of deep satellite communications engineering expertise from e2E provides Telespazio UK with enhanced capability in the delivery of space-enabled services, and the strong heritage of e2E working with defence and commercial customers deeply complements the decadal heritage with Telespazio UK’s institutional customers. This acquisition provides a huge step forward in Telespazio UK’s journey to make a major impact in helping to deliver the National Space Strategy, from both a civil and defence perspective.
Mark Hewer, Telespazio UK CEO comments: "Damocles and the broader team were invaluable, they brought insight into the key areas and trends that were core to making this deal a success. It was incredibly reassuring to be guided and advised by such a great team and firm."
Telespazio UK was advised by Osborne Clarke’s defence, security and aerospace team, led by Corporate Partner Damocles Merry who was supported by Rebecca Ewing, Adam Turner, Olivier Jacquelin and Shauna Poole. Marc Shrimpling and Joachim Piotrowski advised on FDI aspects of the transaction. Tracey Wright and Helena Zaba provided tax support, while Claire Bowles and Sarah Smith provided employment advice.
Following this recent acquisition Damocles Merry said: "The space sector is really reaching a maturity where we are not only seeing increased activity for our venture capital practice but also an increase in the number of M&A mandates.'"
Osborne Clarke’s corporate team is considered a go-to practice for many advanced engineering companies, supporting clients on a diverse mix of projects in jurisdictions around the globe, from defence, security and aerospace through to all forms of transport, energy and telecoms. The team advises at every stage of company development across all corporate issues, from equity and debt fundraisings to M&A, IPOs and JVs.
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