Richard Youle

Mr. Youle is recognised as a leading individual in The Legal 500 UK and a Market Leader in IFLR1000. Additionally, he is ranked in Tier 1 in Chambers UK, which quotes clients describing him as “incredibly responsive, very professional but also personal. He feels like an extension of our team and has excellent subject knowledge at all times.” He also was named Lawyer of the Year - London Private Equity Law by Best Lawyers in the UK 2022, in addition to being named as a 2018 Private Equity MVP by Law360.

Mr. Youle’s significant experience includes advising:

• Coty Inc. in its strategic partnership with KKR & Co. Inc. including the carveout sale of 60% of its professional beauty and retail hair businesses to KKR with an enterprise value of US$4.3 billion;
• funds advised by Castik Capital in:
  • the merger of Waterlogic Holdings Limited with Culligan International Co. Mr. Youle previously advised on the sale of a majority stake in Waterlogic to Castik’s new single asset fund, EPIC I-b, and the sale of a significant minority stake in the company to four institutional investors;
  • the acquisition of Element Logic;
  • the acquisition of Customs Support Group B.V. (CSG) from Mentha Capital B.V. and Oscar Driessen, the founder of CSG;
  • CPA Global’s $6.8 billion all-stock combination with Clarivate plc;
  • acquisition of two IP management services and software companies, ipan Group and Delegate, and their subsequent merger with CPA Global, a portfolio company of Leonard Green Partners and Partners Group; and
  • the acquisition of AddSecure from Arby Partners;
• Transaction Services Group (TSG) in Calera Capital’s sale of a majority stake in TSG to Advent International Corporation;
• H.I.G. Capital in its acquisition of the plumbing and heating division of Travis Perkins plc;
• Hg in a number of matters, including:
  • its significant investment in IFS and WorkWave businesses, at a $10 billion valuation;
  • its acquisition of Riskalyze, Inc.;
  • its investment in Managed Markets Insights & Technology, LLC; 
  • its investment, alongside TA Associates, in Insight Software;
  • its investment in Dext; 
  • in its acquisition of a controlling interest in Trackunit from Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Gro Capital;
  • in its sale of Mitratech to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, and on the terms of its continued minority investment in Mitratech;
  • in connection with its acquisition of Benevity, Inc. alongside General Atlantic, JMI Equity and the Benevity management team;
  • in connection with its acquisition of Gen II Fund Services LLC as part of a consortium along with General Atlantic and IHS Markit; 
  • in its acquisition of a 50% stake in The Citation Group from KKR & Co., Inc.;
  • in its investment in Hyperion Insurance Group Limited;
  • in its acquisition of a minority stake in Argus Media, an independent provider of energy and commodity price reporting;
  • in its £410 million sale of U.K.-based visual effects producer Foundry to Roper Technologies, a U.S.-headquartered technology company specializing in niche markets;
  • as lead investor in the US$5.3 billion buyout of Visma, a leading provider of business software in the Nordic region. This was Europe’s largest-ever software buyout;
  • in its further €640 million investment in Visma and its investment in Litera Microsystems;
  • in the sale of its portfolio company JLA Limited to Cinven Limited;
  • in its sale of Ullink SAS to Itiviti AB, a portfolio company of Nordic Capital;
  • in its sale of Radius GGE, Inc. to Vistra Holdings S.à r.l.; and
  • in its sale of Raet to Visma Group;
• Prophix, a portfolio company of Hg, in its acquisition of Sigma Conso from Fortino Capital;
• Sovos Compliance, LLC, a portfolio company of HgCapital LLP, in its acquisitions of TrustWeaver AB and Paperless;
• funds managed by I Squared Capital Advisors, LLC, along with TDR Capital LLP, in the US$3.1 billion acquisition of Aggreko plc;
• TIP and funds managed by I Squared Capital in the €650 million acquisition of PEMA Group from Société Générale;
• Hg6 Fund and IRIS Software Group Limited in IRIS Software’s sale to Hg Saturn Fund and Intermediate Capital Fund plc;
• Pret A Manger Ltd, a portfolio company of JAB Holding Company LLC, in its acquisition of EAT Limited;
• HighQ Solutions Limited in its sale to Thomson Reuters Corporation; and
• Montagu Private Equity LLP and the other shareholders of Equatex in its €354 million disposal to Computershare.