Stephenson Harwood and AG lead on £82m Science in Sport take-private

Stephenson Harwood and Addleshaw Goddard are advising on the £82 million take-private of AIM-listed sports nutrition company Science in Sport (SiS) by London-based private equity firm bd-capital.

The recommended all-cash offer of 34p per share is set to be implemented via a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement.

If approved, the deal will see SiS return to private ownership after more than a decade on the public markets.

The board of SiS unanimously recommended the offer to shareholders last week.

Advising

Stephenson Harwood is acting for bd-capital, with a team led by London-based corporate finance partner David Dowding and private equity partner Chris Manning.

The duo are supported by managing associate Victoria Silver and associates Bryton Chin, Kunal Shah and Harry House.

Bd-capital, a long-standing client of Manning and fellow private equity partner Malcolm MacDougall, was founded in 2019 by Andrew Dawson and Richard Baker - former executives at private equity giant Advent.

The firm is active in the sports sector - in 2022, Stephenson Harwood advised it on the creation of Sportscape Group through the merger of SportPursuit and Private Sport Shop in a deal with Bridgepoint.

Addleshaw Goddard is advising SiS, led by Manchester office head and corporate partner Roger Hart, alongside partner George Danczak and managing associate Lucie Walker, according to Insider Media.

AG advised SiS on a £8.5 million equity raise last year.