The London Private Equity team is advising the senior management of Waterstones in connection with the acquisition of a majority stake in their business by funds managed by Elliott Advisors (UK) Ltd. Elliott Advisors is providing all the financing for the transaction, including the consideration and ongoing operational finance. Lynwood Investments, controlling shareholder of Waterstones since 2011, will retain a minority stake. Financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in early May.
James Daunt, CEO of Waterstones since 2011, will remain as CEO under the new ownership, as will his key leadership team.
Elliott Advisors is one of the oldest and largest private investment organizations globally, with funds under management of approximately $35 billion.
Waterstones is the UK and Ireland’s leading high street bookseller with 283 shops. It is the only national specialist book retailer of scale in the UK, with the average sized shop carrying a range of around 30,000 individual books and with over 200,000 titles in the largest shop.
For additional details on the acquisition, please read the press release.