Lowell Group in management buyout and merger
Permira is backing a buyout and subsequent merger of Lowell Group with GFKL, an existing portfolio company of Permira.

A Travers Smith team led by private equity partners Ian Shawyer and James Renahan have advised management on the buyout of the Lowell Group ("Lowell") by a newco backed by Permira funds ("Permira") from TDR Capital ("TDR") and its subsequent merger with GFKL, an existing portfolio company of Permira. As part of the transaction, management (along with Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan ("OTTP"), an existing investor in Lowell) will continue as shareholders in the combined business.



Lowell is a leading provider of credit management services which specialises in debt recovery and data analytics. The business is headquartered in Leeds and has over 1,100 team members. The merger of the business with GFKL, a leading provider of receivables management services in Germany will create one of the largest pan-European credit management businesses. The combined group will service over 15 million customers and establish a leading market position in the two largest European financial services markets, Germany and the United Kingdom.



Travers Smith advised Lowell's senior management team led by existing Lowell CEO James Cornell, who will co-run the combined business as joint group CEO alongside Kamyar Niroumand, CEO of GFKL.



The Travers Smith team also included private equity senior counsel Emma Havas, senior associate Naveed Anwar and associates Stephanie Young and Adrian Duncan. Tax partner Russell Warren and senior associate Silvana Van der Velde advised management on the tax aspects of the deal. Management were also advised by Jamieson Corporate Finance and Deloitte.



Permira were advised by Freshfields and Ernst and Young (tax), TDR were advised by Linklaters and OTTP were advised by Weil, Gotshal & Manges.