European mid-market tech investor, Tenzing, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its investment in Smoothwall to Family Zone, an Australian headquartered cyber safety software provider.
Tenzing and other shareholders were advised by an Osborne Clarke team led by Private Equity Partner Tim Hewens and including Partners Pippa Byrne, Alistair Francis, Associates Alex Littlefield, Hannah Rossi, Lottie Brewster and Trainee Alice Benson. Associate Director Robert Thomas advised on Tax and Senior Associate Lara Flynn advised on Employment.
Tenzing invested in Smoothwall, a dedicated safeguarding technology provider in UK education, in 2017 and has supported its growth both organically and through acquisitions.
With Tenzing as its investment partner, Smoothwall delivered an extensive programme of product development. The company initially leveraged Tenzing’s Entrepreneurs Panel with the appointment of Richard Hurd-Wood, who joined the business as a Technology Advisor in 2017 when Lisa Stone joined as Chair. In May 2018, the company appointed Georg Ell as CEO, who had previously served as Director of Western Europe at Tesla. Since then, Smoothwall has revamped all business operations, expanded its core product suite into the Cloud, and built out award-winning new categories, including a managed monitoring product and record-keeping for safeguarding.
Osborne Clarke has a strong presence and is a go-to practice in the private equity market with a strong focus on the technology and digitalisation sector. The team works closely with leading global businesses, fast-growth start-ups and market challengers advising at every stage of company development across all corporate areas, from equity and debt fundraising to M&A, IPOs and JVs.
Tenzing was also advised on the exit by Raymond James.
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