Newcastle law firm Muckle has been praised for its work advising Aspire Technology Solutions securing a significant minority investment from LDC.
The private equity investment valued the technology company at £85m.
Aspire offers services across a range of applications including cloud, connectivity, voice, technical support and cyber security. Its full fibre network provides bandwidth speeds of up to 100 gigabits per second.
The business has scaled rapidly with revenue rising to £30m in the last 12 months of trading, growing more than 48 per cent over the past three years.
LDC’s partnership will support Aspire’s management team, led by Chris Fraser, to pursue organic growth and acquisition opportunities. The management team is aiming to broaden the business’ suite of services and expand further into markets across the UK.
Muckle’s corporate and banking teams provided legal advice to Aspire on the transaction.
Philip Clare, corporate partner, led the deal, working with corporate associate Stuart Grieve, corporate solicitor Hayden Richards, and partner and head of banking Louise Duffy.
Chris Fraser, chief executive at Aspire Technology Solutions, said: “We have worked with the Muckle team for a number of years now and we trusted them to get this deal done. The team led by Philip and assisted by Stuart, Hayden and Louise were responsive, commercial and really helped to drive the transaction over the line.
“The investment marks a new chapter for Aspire which will enable us to move to the next level.”
Philip Clare added: “As a leading law firm for businesses, it has been great to work with Aspire over the years and to see it go from strength to strength. This is a fantastic deal for the North East, with a successful regionally based business securing a significant investment from a national fund with a local presence.”
