International law firm Gowling WLG has acted for the shareholders of Hera Indemnity Limited ("Hera") on the sale of its share capital to the Ardonagh Group, the UK's largest independent insurance broker.

Hera, founded by CEO Patrick Bullen-Smith in 2004, is principally a professional indemnity (PI) insurance broking business providing PI solutions to solicitors across England and Wales and is a London-based Lloyd's broker with £41 million gross written premium (GWP) under management.

The Gowling WLG team was led by corporate partner, Jeff Elway, assisted by corporate trainee solicitor, Alistair Connor, corporate consultant Mike Lacey and tax consultant Mike Murphy.

Patrick Bullen-Smith, founder of Hera, said: "Gowling WLG were fantastic in advising on and navigating us through the complexities of a private company sale, which was a first for me personally.

"The Gowling WLG team was always available 24/7 and provided first class support to meet the demanding timeframe for the sale, demonstrating a hugely impressive ability to provide seamless support on transactions like this notwithstanding the COVID-19 lockdown. The dedication of the Gowling WLG team was a major contribution to the success of the transaction and its delivery to schedule."

Jeff Elway, corporate partner at Gowling WLG, added: "We are delighted to have advised Patrick on the transaction and to have successfully delivered on the sale, further demonstrating our depth of expertise in M&A work across a number of sectors."