Advising Endless on acquisition of Jones Bootmaker

We have advised transformational private equity investor, Endless LLP, on the acquisition of shoe retailer Jones Bootmaker from administration. The deal completed on Saturday, 25 March just nine days after the initial instruction.

The Endless vehicle purchased the business and assets of the retailer for £11m together with some assets from a connected company, Brantano Retail Limited, which was in a separate administration. 72 of 110 stores were taken on with around 840 employees and Endless are injecting a further £9m to fund the business going forward.

A national, cross-discipline team led by Gateley Plc’s Corporate Recovery team in Leeds included senior associate Matt Leech and partner William Ballmann. Other teams involved in the deal included Richard Morton and Lisa Smith (Banking), Andrew Macmillan and Helen Webster (Employment), Peter Budd and Tom Hughes (Commerce, Technology & Media), Phil Gregory and Andrew Boyd (Property) and Tamanna Keir and Emma Wilson (Corporate).

Andrew Smith, partner at Endless said: “Jones is a well-known and loved brand on the UK High Street. We recognise that there is a lot of work to be done to transform the company to secure long-term stability for the business and its employees but we are delighted to be working with the team and can see the opportunities for an exciting future.”

Matt Leech, senior associate at Gateley Plc said: “I’m delighted that we could help complete this deal in just over a week, with the positive result of Endless securing numerous jobs. It was a quick turnaround and the success of that is down to the collaborative approach of the national team we put in place and by working closely with the client on all aspects of the deal. With Endless on board I’m confident that Jones Bootmaker has a promising future ahead.”