News
Transatlantic law firm Womble Bond Dickinson has advised its longstanding client Piper, a leading specialist investor in consumer brands, on its GBP33 million minority stake investment in Omlet, a design-led pet accessories brand sold exclusively online.
Founded in 2004 and with sales forecast to reach GBP40 million this year, Omlet is on a mission to become the number one global direct to consumer premium pet product brand. Global trends have helped fuel Omlet’s growth and enabled the business to use its bespoke e-commerce platform to reach a worldwide audience with nearly 40 percent of all sales generated from Europe and one quarter from the United States.
The transaction involved multiple jurisdictions in the US and Europe and the firm called upon the expertise from colleagues from the UK and the US as well as Redeker Sellner Dahs, WBD's alliance partner in Germany.
The multidisciplinary Womble Bond Dickinson team that advised Piper in the UK was led by corporate lawyer Sammy Hill alongside corporate partners Simon Hewes and Tom Fitzpatrick. In the US, the team included corporate partners Scott Anderson and Patrick Strubbe, and associate Jake Rifkin; intellectual property partner Mike Tobin; and Privacy and Cybersecurity partner Tara Cho.
WBD (UK) has a longstanding relationship with Piper and over the past decade has worked with Piper on many significant deals, including in the pet food sector, with investments into Forthglade and Pet Food UK, the company behind the Barking Heads and Meowing Heads brands. WBD (UK) also advised the client on investments into well-known consumer brands such as Wild Nutrition, The Thinking Traveller, Flat Iron Restaurants, Neom Organics, Bottlegreen, Loungers, Orlebar Brown and Mindful Chef, on which WBD (UK) also subsequently advised the client on the sale of the business to the world's largest food & beverage company Nestlé.
Sammy Hill of WBD says: "It has been a pleasure working once again with the team at Piper on this exciting venture with Omlet, which consolidates Piper's success in the pet product market and enhances its expertise in digitally-led consumer brands. It is fantastic for WBD to be working with a client with such a real passion for growing young consumer brands. WBD's corporate and private equity expertise, coupled with our deep understanding of Piper, and what it wishes to achieve, and our strength in Europe and North America, enabled us to provide the best possible outcome for all parties."
Rory Gibbs, Investment Director at Piper adds: "We are delighted that the team at Omlet selected Piper as their preferred partners and are excited by the growth opportunities the business has identified, in a sector we understand well. Their unique and thoughtful product designs are much loved by customers around the world.
Once again, we extend our thanks to Sammy and the WBD team, as well as their colleagues in the US and Germany, for the first rate legal expertise and dedication we have come to expect from the firm."
Read more about Piper’s investment in Omlet here.
