Prettys advises as Suffolk-based Publisher John Catt Educational is sold to Hachette UK

Prettys have advised on the recent sale of Suffolk-based educational publishing company, John Catt Educational Limited and its trading subsidiary, John Catt Publications LLC (US), to Hachette UK Limited. Senior Associate, Dan Billson, was lead adviser on the transaction and was supported by Zoe Zhang (Corporate and Real Estate), Siân Llewelyn (Employment) and Rebecca Cleal (Real Estate). Prettys worked closely and effectively with Luke Morris and his team at Scrutton Bland, who played an important role in the success of the transaction.

John Catt Educational has been based locally in Woodbridge for over 60 years, but over recent years, the business has grown significantly and has seen the launch of a successful US subsidiary.  The sale saw the successful transfer of entire issued share capital in John Catt Educational Limited’s holding company, Deben Publishing Limited, together with its trading subsidiaries to Hachette UK Limited.

Alex Sharratt, Managing Director of John Catt, said: “We’re proud of the strong brand and reputation that we’ve built at John Catt and feel that partnering with Hachette through the Hodder Educational Group can take our progress to even greater heights. We were delighted to work with the teams at Prettys and Scrutton Bland to achieve this successful outcome.”

John Barnes, Editorial Director of John Catt, added: “We’ve had a long association with Dan Billson and Prettys and we were pleased to work with them again on this project, which marks an exciting new chapter for John Catt. We are grateful for the advice and guidance of Dan, Zoe and their team throughout the process. Their attention to detail, expert knowledge and clear communication were extremely important in bringing the project to a successful conclusion.”

Dan Billson concluded: “This transaction is of particular significance for me, not only given the complexities involved and the effective way we worked with Luke and the team at Scruttons, but also that I have worked with Alex, Jonathan and James since assisting them with their management buy-out of John Catt Educational in 2014.  I have very much enjoyed working with them since that time and I look forward to seeing the business continuing to develop over the coming years.”

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