Tessa Agar is a partner in Goodwin’s Business Law department and a member of its Private Equity group. Tessa advises on all aspects of corporate law, with a particular focus on mid-market private equity transactions, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and growth equity and venture capital investments. Tessa advises clients across a variety of industries, including technology, software, healthcare, telecommunications, financial services, food, and consumer products. She joined Goodwin in 2017.
Representative Matters
- Arma Partners, a UK corporate advisory firm specialising in digital finance, on its acquisition by Mediobanca, an Italian bank
- Shareholders of Receipt Bank / Dext on its majority sale to Hg Capital
- WisdomTree Investments Inc. on its $611 million acquisition of ETF Securities’ European exchange-traded commodities, currency and short-and-leveraged business
- Delivery Hero in connection with its acquisition of certain food delivery business assets from Zomato Media Private Limited for circa $150 million
- Scopely, an interactive entertainment company and a leading mobile games publisher in its investment in and developer arrangements with Mediatonic, a leading game developer in the UK
- Acquia Inc, an open source digital experience company, on its acquisition of Cohesion Web Technologies, a software business
- Gramercy Property Europe plc on the €1.085 billion sale of its European logistics portfolio to a consortium of clients managed by AXA Investment Managers
- Accel-KKR
- on its bolt-on acquisition via an indirect portfolio company, Navtor, of Voyager a navigation services and solutions provider primarily operating in the shipping space
- on its investment in Ocuco, a leading provider of omnichannel software solutions to the global eyecare market
- on its investment in PayProp, a leading processor of rental payments for the property management industry
- on a significant growth investment in Masabi, the ticketing innovations company
- on its series E share financing of Performance Horizon Group Limited, a UK based global tech company providing an enterprise SaaS platform for international companies to track online sales and pay commissions to third party marketers
- Mayfair Equity Partners
- on its sale of Talon Outdoor, provider of marketing and outdoor advertising services, to Equistone Partners Europe
- on its investment in Tangle Teezer, a global haircare brand, valuing the company at more than £70 million
- Antin Infrastructure Partners on its acquisition of Pulsant, a nationwide provider of data centre and cloud infrastructure in the UK
- Active Partners on its £10 million growth equity investment in Facetheory, a UK based affordable skincare brand
- TA Associates on its significant minority investment in Apex Group Ltd, a global financial services provider to asset managers, financial institutions, family offices and corporates
- LDC on its investment in Beekman Associates, a developer and provider of the data-driven marketing procurement platform RightSpend
- An American multinational investment bank and financial services company on its investment of approximately US $40 million in Series B Preferred Shares of Secure Code Warrior Limited, a global secure coding company that provides a unique and proven suite of secure coding tools within one powerful SaaS platform, helping developers write secure code from the start
- Spice Private Equity (Bermuda) Ltd on its acquisition of a significant minority stake and subsequent follow on investments, alongside Active Partners, in Leon Restaurants, a naturally fast food chain
- General Catalyst in connection with its Series C investment in Kano Computing Limited
- JMC Capital and their portfolio company, Source Code, a manufacturer of server systems in connection with its acquisition of Broadberry Data Systems, a leading manufacturing of high-end custom servers
- The Halifax Group and their portfolio company, BCI Burke, a playground equipment supplier on its acquisition of Percussion Play, a leading manufacturer of outdoor musical instruments
- TA Associates on the sale of a majority stake in The Nintex Group, a global workflow and content automation business
- DST Global in connection with its investment in Simple Energy ‘Bulb’
- Bridgepoint
- on its sale of Leeds Bradford Airport to AMP Capital Investors for an enterprise value of £221 million
- as lead investor in Deliveroo’s $275 million Series E funding round
- ICG Enterprise Trust, Risk Capital Partners and the senior management team, on their sale of The Laine Pub Company to Patron Capital and May Capital
- Graphite Capital on its acquisition of Empowering Learning, a teacher training and recruitment business
- Ampersand Capital on its acquisition of MedPharm Limited, a topical and transdermal formulation, design and testing service
- Gallatin Point Capital, as part of a private equity consortium led by Centerbridge Partners, L.P., on its $952 million acquisition of Sompo Canopius AG, a global specialty lines insurer and reinsurer from Sompo Holdings
- Bregal Sagemount on its investment in Options Technology, a leading provider of cloud-enabled managed services to the global financial services sector
- Bregal Milestone on its investments in ePassi, a provider of B2B payments based in Finland and Sweden andEpipoli, a leading provider of gift cards and customer engagement services in Italy
Areas of Practice
Professional Experience
Prior to joining Goodwin, Tessa was an associate at Shearman & Sterling LLP.
Credentials
Education
MA2014
BPP University
(with Distinction)
Legal Practice Course2010
BPP Law School
(with Distinction)
Bachelors of Law2009
University of Nottingham
Admissions
Bars
- England & Wales
Recognition & Awards
Tessa has been named in Law.com International’s 2023 list of Private Equity Rising Stars: Europe's Best Up-and-Coming Lawyers, a list representing 25 of the premiere young private equity lawyers across the UK and Europe. She has also been recognised as a Rising Star of Legal Services for 2023 by Financial News. The list recognises the best up-and-coming talent under the age of 40 working in the legal profession in Europe.
Publications
Contributor, “Return to Normal: Resilience and Resetting,” Litera 2023 M&A Report, December 1, 2022