Castle has advised the shareholders of Cranbrook based Take 1 Script Services Limited (“Take 1”) on the sale of the company to fast-growing Israeli tech group, Verbit. This is Verbit’s second acquisition in the UK and a milestone in its European expansion plans.
Take 1 was founded by Dom Bourne in 1998, and since then it has grown to become one of the leading providers of start-to-finish transcription and captioning services for video content. Take 1 is a trusted provider of localisation and access services to the media and entertainment industry and has an established presence in the OTT (Over-The-Top) market in both the US and UK. The management team remain in place to support the longer-term growth plans of the enlarged group.
Louise Tapia, CEO of Take 1 commented: “We’re thrilled to be joining the Verbit family and adding our specialised teams and technologies into the fold. With the support of Verbit’s international footprint, proven capabilities and world-leading technologies, we will be able to expand and enhance our services to provide existing and new clients with a unique end-to-end offering, while retaining the Take 1 brand and boutique approach to customer service. Not having been through a sale process before, it was important we chose experienced and professional advisers to expertly guide us through this complex process, cross-border, process. Castle came recommended to us and we are very pleased to have had their deal team by our side throughout, led by Managing Director, Stuart Stepney, and Alex Nursey. Their advice was always tailored and concise, and we were able to make key decisions based on their commercial and technical acumen and bank of knowledge accumulated from years of advising owner-managers on similar deals.”
Tom Livne, CEO and founder of Verbit, added: “The addition of Take 1 advances Verbit as the leading partner to deliver on every media access need including captioning, transcription and audio description. I’m excited to provide enhanced service designed to meet our joint customers’ growing post-production needs, while investing more in the UK and European regions.”
Stuart Stepney, Managing Director at Castle Corporate Finance, added: “Verbit seized the opportunity to acquire Take 1, a leader in its field. As a multinational business, we were able to rapidly build and proactively manage a professional M&A process in tight timeframes, that covered several jurisdictions. The Take 1 deal team, together with their appointed legal advisers, Brachers, were absolutely committed to the transaction throughout and that massively contributed towards a successful completion. Verbit were also thorough, commercial, and pragmatic in their approach and knew exactly how to tackle a privately owned business like this, where the vendors were selling for the first time. We wish all those involved the very best of success and our sincerest congratulations to Take 1 and Verbit.”
Castle Corporate Finance acted as lead adviser on the transaction, with legal advice provided by Brachers and tax/accounting support from Moore Kingston Smith.
