Global law firm Reed Smith has advised new client Naked Wines on its £70 million sale to Majestic Wine Plc (Majestic).

Naked Wines is an online wine retailer founded in 2008. Majestic and Naked Wines will continue to operate as separate brands, with Naked Wines founder and CEO Rowan Gormley as chief executive of the overall company.

The Reed Smith team was led by partners James Cross and Perry Yam. The team advised Naked Wines, Rowan Gormley and majority shareholder WIV Wein International AG (WIV) on all aspects of the sale process.

James Cross, Reed Smith private equity partner, commented:

“This is another example of our expertise in the consumer/e-commerce space and in partnering with entrepreneurs seeking to take their businesses to the next stage, whether by sale or investment. We were also able to demonstrate our cross-border platform in acting for WIV, based in Germany. We were delighted to work once more with the prolific team at Cavendish Corporate Finance.”

The full Reed Smith team included: partners James Cross, Perry Yam, Caspar Fox, Charles Jurd (all London) and Justus Binder (Munich); associates Danny Bloom, Emma Gilks, Thomas McLaughlin, William Reay-Jones and Claire Wilmann; consultant Jeremy Glover; and trainees Nicole Abbott and Alex Molyneux. Osborne Clarke advised Majestic on the deal.

ENDS

Note to Editors:

About Reed Smith

Reed Smith is a global relationship law firm, with more than 1,800 lawyers in 25 offices throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States.

For further information, please visit www.reedsmith.com or contact Annabelle Price (branding & communications executive EME) on +44 (0)20 3116 3787.