Squire Patton Boggs has advised digital transformation provider Hippo Digital on securing an investment in the business from European private equity firm Exponent.
The team advising Hippo Digital was led by Corporate partner Mae Salem, and included fellow partners Paul Mann and David Milne, director Josh Lodge and associate Amelia Sharkey with tax advice provided by Patrick Ford.
Founded in 2016, Hippo Digital is one of the largest independent digital services consultancies in the UK, delivering end to end strategy, design and data services across both private and public sector organisations. Hippo Digital employs over 500 people from offices across the UK, in London, Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Edinburgh.
Squire Patton Boggs previously advised the shareholders and management team of Hippo Digital on an investment from private equity firm Growth Capital Partners in 2021, and also advised the company on its acquisition of data consultancy The Data Shed two years later.
Adam Lewis, CEO and Co-founder of Hippo Digital, said: “The Squires team have supported us along our growth journey, including when GCP invested in Hippo and on Hippo’s acquisition of The Data Shed. As our trusted legal advisors, they have now also supported us on Exponent’s investment which is a huge milestone for Hippo. The Squires team demonstrate their strength in technical expertise but deliver this in a way we can understand with a focus on the issues that they know will be important to us and the business. Critically, this keeps pressure off me and my team, allowing us to focus on business.”
“The Squires team were a pleasure to work with on our transaction with Exponent,” added Michael Watts, CFO of Hippo Digital. “Their prior knowledge of our business, responsiveness, commercialism and pragmatism were instrumental in getting the deal done and giving us peace of mind during the process. They felt more like a partner than an advisor. The team are personable, friendly and highly capable, masking the complexities of the legal process; they feel like an extension of our own team, which makes it very easy to choose to keep working with them.”
Mae Salem said: “We are very pleased to support Hippo Digital again – this time with its partnership with Exponent, an investment that will help the company continue to go from strength to strength and develop its exceptional services as one of the UK’s leading independent digital services consultancies.”