Mourant Hong Kong team advises on $1.25 billion US sports academy acquisition
07 July 2023
Mourant, a law firm-led professional services firm, has acted as Cayman Islands counsel to the arrangers in connection with the financing of BPEA EQT's US$1.25 billion acquisition of IMG Academy, a leading education institution supporting over 100,000 student athletes across its suite of sports education services.
On the cross-border transaction, the Mourant team applied their specialist knowledge of fund structures as financing vehicles and advised on a multijurisdictional fund borrowing entity.
Florida-based sports education institution, IMG Academy, was established in 1978 through the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. Today, it is recognised as the world’s leading sports education brand, providing access and opportunity for student athletes with an innovative suite of on-campus and online programming. It is the only education brand directly responsible for filling a quarter of all US college roster spots on an annual basis, helping to place 30,000 students into college in 2021 alone.
The Mourant team was led by Hong Kong-based Simon Lawrenson, Global Practice Leader of the firm's Finance and Corporate team. Also closely involved in the transaction were Partner Danielle Roman, Counsel Lily Miao and Associate Naomi Crawford, who acted as specialist counsel to the arrangers and the lenders as to Cayman Islands law relevant to the deal.
The team worked closely with leading global law firm Linklaters as legal counsel for the arrangers and lenders on the debt financing for the acquisition. Also involved were Kirkland & Ellis LLP, providing English law legal counsel to the sponsor; Ropes & Gray, providing legal counsel to the sponsor; and Latham & Watkins, providing legal counsel to Endeavour, the seller.
"I would like to extend my congratulations to all parties on the completion of this significant sports education transaction.
"This deal evidences our Banking and Finance team's longstanding expertise in advising multinational banks. This particular transaction was a fast-moving financing, and we are proud to have delivered succinct, commercial advice and to have worked in close collaboration with all other stakeholders to ensure a timely, successful completion.
"We wish BPEA EQT every success with the future growth and development of IMG Academy."
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About Mourant
Mourant is a law firm-led, professional services business with over 60 years' experience in the financial services sector. We advise on the laws of the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Jersey and Luxembourg and provide specialist entity management, governance, regulatory and consulting services.
