Olswang closes the sale of Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert.com

A team led by corporate partner Mark Bertram has acted on the sale to Moneysupermarket Group Plc of leading finance website MoneySavingExpert.com by well-known personal finance expert Martin Lewis. Mr. Lewis will receive up to £87m, £60m upfront in a mixture of cash and shares and a further £27m conditional on meeting certain non-financial targets over the next three years.

After more than twelve months of negotiations, an Olswang cross sector team was delighted to close the deal ahead of the Jubilee weekend. The corporate team including Louis Glass, Hannah Farrington, Gordon Ker and Jack Gilbert worked alongside and with key specialist support from Stephen Reese (IP), Mark Joscelyne and Robert Sartor (Tax), Catherine Taylor and Tom Molan (Employment), Howard Cartlidge and Ginny O'Flinn (Regulatory).

MoneySavingExpert operates one of the UK's leading personal finance websites which was established in 2003 by journalist Martin Lewis, ex-business editor on the Today programme. According to Google Analytics, the MoneySavingExpert website attracted approximately 39 million unique visitors and approximately 277 million page impressions in the year ended 31 October 2011.

Martin Lewis said: "MoneySavingExpert.com is rightly trusted by its users as a unique source of independent information and views in today's complex financial world. We are committed to maintaining its trusted, independent, reputation."

Mark Bertram comments: "Martin Lewis has built a remarkable business with an enviable customer base. The deal has thrown many challenges our way, not least the requirement to build an effective mechanism for the preservation of the editorial independence of the site."

Due to its size the Acquisition will be conditional on MoneySupermarket shareholder approval. Completion is subject to other conditions being met, not least OFT clearance.

Mark continues: "This is a sizeable valuation for a company which employs just 42 people but it has grown fast and been highly successful. It is a real testament to the team's entrepreneurial verve."

Olswang's M&A team was ranked in tier 1 by Legal 500, click here to learn more.