Lawyers from the Bristol office of international legal practice Osborne Clarke have helped the world’s largest group of premium darts equipment brands hit their private equity fundraising target.
Nodor Group, based in Bridgend, owns Winmau and Red Dragon – two of the names behind many of the world’s most talented darts professionals and the most advanced equipment.
Winmau is also the exclusive equipment provider to the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and the title sponsor at the PDC World Masters.
The funding from leading European mid-market private equity firm Inflexion will be used to scale the brands and support Nodor’s management team to further grow the business’s geographic reach.
Inflexion will also work with Nodor on product development and the use of technology to enhance its customer experience.
Founded more than100 years ago, the group is recognised as the world’s largest and most advanced manufacturer of premium bristle dartboards, aerospace-grade tungsten darts and related products, which are exported to more than 100 countries.
It employs more than 1,000 employees across three continents
Nodor’s shareholders the Bluck family were advised by an Osborne Clarke Bristol-based team led by Simon Spooner, Alisdair Livingstone and Jack Wellington and including Liam O’Connor, Sasha Dornan, Jonny Squires, Stuart Janaway, Sophie Walmsley, Tom Lewis, Lara Fatemi, Sophie Myatt and Catherine Gunz.
Nodor managing director Vince Bluck said: “With entities located in three different continents requiring a complex internal reorganisation prior to the main transaction, this process was always going to be immensely challenging and time consuming.
“From our very first meeting with Osborne Clarke, Simon, Jack and the entire OC team consistently provided the superb legal advice and professional guidance required to steer this deal.
“Crucially for us, as a family business experiencing explosive growth, they’ve taken ownership of the entire legal process.
“This allowed us to focus on running our core business which has been absolutely invaluable.”
Osborne Clarke associate director Jack Wellington added: “We are delighted to have acted for the Bluck family on such an exciting transaction and look forward to watching the continued success of Nodor’s world renowned brands for many years to come.”
The investment, the value of which has not been disclosed, was made by Inflexion’s Buyout Fund VI.
Osborne Clarke, which employs around 800 people in Bristol, also has offices in London, Reading and across Europe and in China, Singapore and the US, where it has bases in Silicon Valley, San Francisco and New York.
