Helen Croke

• Advised Intermediate Capital Group on its sale and reinvestment into IRIS Software Group, a leading global provider of mission-critical software and services in accountancy, payroll, HR and education. The investment represented one of Europe’s largest software buyouts for 2023, valuing IRIS at an Enterprise Value of around £3.15 billion
• Advised Intermediate Capital Group on its sale and reinvestment into Visma – a leading provider of mission-critical cloud software in Europe and Latin-America - valuing Visma at €19 billion
• Advised Bridgepoint on its sale and reinvestment in PEI Group, an international provider of information, insights and events for the global alternative private assets market
• Advised Bridgepoint on its acquisition of Fera Science, a national and international centre of excellence for interdisciplinary investigation and problem solving across plant and bee health, crop protection, sustainable agriculture, food and feed quality and chemical safety in the environment
• Advised Bridgepoint on its acquisition of SK AeroSafety Group, a global leader in aviation safety component maintenance, repair and overhaul services
• Advised Astorg on the demerger of Fastmarkets from Delinian, formerly known as Euromoney Institutional Investor plc
• Advised Astorg on its acquisition of the Fastmarkets business division of Euromoney Institutional Investor, as part of a £1.61bn acquisition of the financial publisher Euromoney by Astorg and Epiris
• Advised Avista Capital Partners and Nordic Capital on the sale of Acino Pharma to ADQ
• Advised Intermediate Capital Group on its investment in Travel Chapter, one of the UK’s leading holiday rental platforms, supporting the sale of the company to its management team from private equity firm ECI Partners 
• Advised 3i Group plc and GartenHaus on the acquisition of Outdoor Toys, one of the UK’s leading online retailers of outdoor garden toys
• Advised Oakley Capital on sale of TechInsights
• Advised Bridgepoint on its acquisition of Achilles, a supply chain risk and performance management business 
• Advised Intermediate Capital Group in connection with an investment in Visma by Aeternum Capital, Government Pension Fund Norway (Folketrygdfondet), Vind, GIC and certain existing institutional investors
• Advised Oak Hill and Scottish Equity Partners on sale of Pulsant (one of the leading nationwide providers of data centre and cloud infrastructure in the UK) to Antin Infrastructure Partners 
• Advised Bridgepoint on its investment in digital marketing agency IDHL
• Advised 3i Group plc on its investment in MPM, an international leader in branded, premium, natural pet food 
• Advised Bridgepoint on its investment in Matrix SCM, a leading managed service provider for the outsourced hiring and management of temporary local government staff in the UK
• Advised Avista Capital Partners on its joint acquisition with VHC Investco of Vision Healthcare, one of Europe’s fastest-growing omni-channel and direct-to-consumer health care companies
• Advised certain selling shareholders of FirstPort, a leading UK residential property management company, to Equistone Partners Europe Limited
• Advised Bridgepoint and its portfolio company, HKA, on the acquisition by HKA of The Kenrich Group, a U.S.-based business and litigation consulting firm
• Advised certain selling shareholders on the sale of Quotient Sciences, a UK-headquartered provider of outsourced drug development services, to Permira
• Advised Avista Capital Partners on the sale of Trimb, a leading consumer health care company based in Stockholm, Sweden, to Karo Pharma for MSEK 3,400
• Advised the founders of Cathelco, a UK-based global manufacturer of equipment for ships and offshore installations, on its sale to Evac, the world’s leading provider of integrated waste, wastewater and water management systems for the marine, offshore, and building industries
• Advised the founders of TCP LifeSystems, a software solutions provider to life and pensions insurance companies, on their sale of the company to iPipeline UK, a leading provider of business intelligence to the UK life, pension and investment markets
• Advised the founders of Thomas International, a leading international provider of psychometric assessment solutions, on the sale of a majority stake in the company to Palamon Capital Partners, a pan-European growth investor
• Acting for Intermediate Capital Group on its:
• Acting for Bridgepoint Advisers II Limited in the sale of Inspired Thinking Group Holdings Limited (ITG)
• Acting for Oakley Capital on the acquisition of TechInsights, a technology patent analysis business
• Acting for Pulsant and Oak Hill on the acquisition of LayerV, a specialist public cloud solution integration company

Notable transactions in which Helen has been involved prior to joining the firm include advising:

• PAI Partners on the buyout of Vacant Property Specialists
• Intermediate Capital Group in connection with
• its investment in Education Personnel
• the sale of CPA Global to Cinven
• its investment in ATPI and Griffin Global
• its investment in Baxter Storey
• the sale of Marken to Apax Partners
• Bridgepoint Development Capital on various transactions including
• the sale of Quotient Clinical to GHO Capital
• the acquisition of tastecard and Gourmet Society
• its investment in MVF
• the acquisition of Phlexglobal from Inflexion Private Equity
• its investment in LOC Group
• the sale of Sibu to Stirling Square Capital
• the sale of Pulsant to Oak Hill Capital following BDC's successful buy and build strategy
• Pulsant, Oak Hill Capital and Scottish Equity Partners in their acquisition of Onyx
• Stirling Square Capital Partners on its acquisition of Mettis Aerospace
• 3i Infrastructure on its equity arrangements in various transactions, including
• the acquisition of Vattenfall AB alongside GS Infrastructure Partners
• the acquisition of TCR with Deutsche Asset Management
• the acquisition of 33.3% of the equity in Cross London Trains, in consortium with Siemens Project Ventures GmbH and Innisfree Limited
• The founders of CoreHR on their exit and equity arrangements following a majority investment by JMI Equity
• Silverfleet Capital and other shareholders on the sale of Aesica Pharmaceuticals
• CDC Group plc and the International Finance Corporation, on their investment in Garden City
• Chorion/3i on the disposals of various IP businesses and brands including Agatha Christie, Mr Men, Noddy, 3i, Raymond Chandler and Beatrix Potter
• Candover/Arle Capital on its complex buy out of Candover Partners Ltd and simultaneous acquisitions of a portfolio of investments from Candover Investments plc