Squire Patton Boggs has advised the management shareholders of recruitment outsourcing company de Poel on the sale of the business to Geometric Results, Inc. (GRI), a portfolio company of Bain Capital Private Equity and wholly owned subsidiary of MSX International, in a deal that will create the world’s largest independent managed service provider. The management team has reinvested part of its interest in the enlarged group going forward and this transaction follows the previous management buy-out of de Poel backed by Tosca and Santander in September 2016, where Squire Patton Boggs also advised the management team.
Established in 2001, Knutsford-based de Poel manages temporary workforces for more than 120 private and public sector clients across the UK, helping clients realize the benefits of outsourcing, while coordinating with more than 1,500 recruitment agencies weekly.
The Squire Patton Boggs team advising management was led by Corporate partners Paul Mann and James Fitzgibbon and included Maxine Burton, Mae Salem and Josh Crawley (Corporate), Peter Morley and Victoria Murphy (Tax Strategy & Benefits).
Andrew Preston, Chief Executive Officer at de Poel, said: “The support and depth of the team at Squire Patton Boggs was crucial for us to deliver this transaction. They did a fantastic job helping us navigate this process, and we are excited to join with GRI. The transaction will help allow us to move more quickly to broaden the scope of our services to existing and future clients.”
James Fitzgibbon, Corporate partner, added: “It is a pleasure to work with quality management teams and we are delighted to have supported Andrew and the team through this complex process. We are sure the enlarged platform offered by GRI, with an especially strong US and European platform, will enable Andrew and the team to deliver more success.”
