Michelmores’ Corporate team has acted for the shareholders of Vian Marketing Limited, the holding company for Tushingham Sails, best known for its Red Paddle Co brand, in its sale to the Myers Family Office. Partner, Henry Taylor led the team with Senior Associate, Francesca Hubbard, with specialist support from David Thompson (IP) and Anthony Reeves (Tax).
Michelmores acted on the original 2015 investment by four Mobeus VCTs into the business, and this latest deal included the VCTs (who are now managed by Gresham House Ventures) fully realising their investments.
Since 2015, the group has nearly doubled its revenue and trebled its EBITDA. This is largely down to the highly successful growth of its well-known brands, Red Paddle Co and Red Original, which became even more popular recently thanks to the surge in interest in outdoor pursuits during the Covid-19 pandemic, and which are now stocked by highly regarded mainstream retailers, such as John Lewis.
Tushingham Sails was founded in 1977 by Roger Tushingham to manufacture and distribute water sports equipment.
Of the deal, John Hibbard, Vian Marketing CEO and founder of Red Paddle Co said:
“Working with Henry and Francesca throughout the process has been a delight. They remained calm and confident and were very easy to deal with. The wider Michelmores team played a great supporting role when needed.”
Henry Taylor added:
“We are extremely proud of having worked on this deal, and with John and his team since the original investment in 2015. The exponential growth of the business is testament to the quality of its product base and much-loved brands.”
