International law firm Clifford Chance advised longstanding client Cinven on the sale of group.ONE from the Sixth Cinven Fund to the Seventh Cinven Fund, in partnership with Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board. group.ONE is a leading European provider of online presence solutions, which include hosting, domain, and web design solutions. group.ONE provides its business software products to small-and medium-sized enterprises and small-office home-offices through its brands including one.com, Hostnet and WP Media.
The Sixth Cinven Fund’s exit from group.ONE emphasises the company’s performance under Cinven’s ownership since its original investment in the business in 2019, and the Seventh Cinven Fund’s reinvestment will continue to support group.ONE’s growth strategy. Clifford Chance advised the Sixth Cinven Fund on the M&A, tax and antitrust aspects of the sale.
This deal is one of a number of transactions this year that Clifford Chance has played a supporting role in for Cinven, across a range of its investment cycles and geographies.
The multidisciplinary Clifford Chance team was led by Jonny Myers, Global head of Private Equity and Partner Oliver Marcuse with support from associates Georgia Demeure and Julian Wuttke in Private Equity. Additional support came from Richard Kalaher and Eli Bursky in tax and Sonia Gilbert in incentives. Sue Hinchliffe and Nissim Massarano advised on antitrust and FDI.
