Bristol-headquartered law firm Burges Salmon’s corporate and mergers & acquisition team has advised on a major new investment deal aimed at supporting the global expansion of a fast-growing West of England FinTech.
The team worked with Bath-based Dancerace, which provides cloud-based software to major banks and lenders worldwide and its outgoing majority owner Newable Capital, on the investment from international software and technology-focused investment firm Norland Capital. 
Dancerace, which was launched in 1992, develops software for the receivables, trade and asset-based finance market along with training, consultancy and support services to help its customers get the most value from their software.
The firm already serves around a third of the total receivables market in the UK and Australasia, plus a significant proportion of the European and African market.
The new funding from US-based Norland Capital – which has been described as ‘significant’ – will further strengthen Dancerace’s market-leading position and is set to support its global expansions plans and product development initiatives.
Under the deal, Norland has bought Newable’s majority ownership stake in Dancerace, which it acquired three years ago, with Dancerace CEO Elliot Avison rolling 100% of his ownership position into the new partnership. 
The Burges Salmon team was led by corporate partners Alex Lloyd and Richard Spink with support from associates Rebecca Brown and Tom Curnow.
Alex, pictured, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with the Newable Capital team and to see another local software and technology company going from strength to strength.
“We wish Elliot Avison, the rest of the Dancerace team and Norland Capital great success in the future.”
Newable Capital managing director Peter Barrand added: “We’ve worked closely with Dancerace for a number of years and are incredibly proud of everything we’ve achieved together.
“We’re grateful to Alex and the team at Burges Salmon for guiding us through this complex process with clarity and straightforward advice.”
Burges Salmon, which employs more than 1,100 people across its offices in Bristol, Edinburgh and London, advises start-ups, high-growth scale-ups, global financial institutions, major corporates and investors.
Its Fintech team guides clients through a broad range of matters from mergers & acquisitions and fundraisings, financial regulation and products, technology and data through to banking, employment and IP issues.
