The Bristol office of national law firm Clarke Willmott has advised the management team at specialist courier firm Panther Logistics on their £17m management buy-out.
Northampton-headquartered Panther opened a 25,000 sq ft depot on the outskirts of Bristol on the Pucklechurch Trading Estate last year, creating more than 25 jobs.
It is one of eight regional hubs across the UK for Panther, which was recently named as one of the Sunday Times/ Virgin Fast Track 100 Companies. 
The firm describes itself as one of the country’s leading “two-man, white glove” delivery firms as its teams take the product into a room of the customer’s choice and remove the packaging. In some cases it even installs products.
Clients include Dunelm, Bosch, The White Company, Wayfair, Silent Night and AGA.
Following the investment, Panther plans to continue to invest in its operations and develop new service innovations to support its customers.
Clarke Willmott corporate partner Simon Smith, pictured, who is based in its Bristol office, said: “This is an exciting development for a business that is well-positioned as an industry leader.
“We acted for the management team with specialist lawyers across several departments lending their expertise. It was great to be part of this successful transaction.”
Clarke Willmott provided a five-strong team to advise the new management on all aspects of the deal, with corporate issues handled by Simon Smith and senior associate Kirill Kruchinin.
Tax advice was provided by partner Niall Murphy and employment issues were handled by partner Kate Gardner and solicitor Sarah Driscoll.
The management team was led by managing director Colin McCarthy and the transaction was backed by Lloyds Development Capital (LDC) and Santander. LDC has acquired a significant minority shareholding in the firm which has enabled its founder Wilson Barrett to retire.
Mr McCarthy said: “This is an exciting point in the business’ journey for our employees and customers alike. I would like to thank Clarke Willmott for all the hard work and dedication they gave us throughout the process, particularly Simon Smith and Kirill Kruchinin for the invaluable guidance and advice they gave me and my team.”
Panther has doubled its turnover in the past two years from just under £13m in 2013 to a projected £26.5m this year.
Gowling WLG acted for LDC, Gateley acted for Santander, Shoosmiths acted for the outgoing bank (RBS) and Howes Percival acted for the selling shareholders.
Clarke Willmott also has offices in Taunton, London, Manchester, Birmingham, Southampton and Cardiff.
