International law firm Gowling WLG has advised the management team of IWSR on its secondary buyout by Bowmark Capital.

IWSR is a leading B2B data and intelligence provider to the drinks industry, and underwent its first management buyout in June 2018 when it received the backing of specialist software and services growth investor FPE Capital.

The management team and FPE Capital were able to increase revenues by 110% and EBITDA by 160% in just under three years of working together, following investment into new areas of research within the drinks market – such as e-commerce, no-and-low alcohol drinks and COVID impacts - alongside its long-established global volume database.

Gowling WLG advised the IWSR management team on the reinvestment of sale proceeds and its continuing participation in the business alongside private equity firm Bowmark Capital.

Mark Meek, the CEO of IWSR commented "I am delighted with the progress the business has made in the last few years. We are an ambitious team and are keen to work with Bowmark to continue to grow IWSR and expand the product portfolio and customer value proposition. As we got to know Bowmark, it became clear that they really understand our sector and can help us accelerate our growth."

The Gowling WLG legal advisory team comprised of Sunil Kakkad, Stephen Bowman, Emily Airton, Martin Chitty and Michael Murphy. Gowling WLG partner, Sunil Kakkad said "It has been an absolute pleasure working with Mark and his team, and we are excited to see how the combination of a proven management team and successful private equity investor Bowmark Capital will lead to the continued development and evolution of an already highly successful data intelligence business."

Stephenson Harwood acted for Bowmark Capital and Proskauer acted for FPE Capital and the other sellers on the disposal. The transaction terms were not disclosed.