Faegre & Benson Squares The Circle in Publishing Deal

The London office of international law firm Faegre & Benson LLP advised Seven Publishing Group Limited on the acquisition of Square One Publishing Group Limited. The merged group – to be called Seven Squared – will have combined revenues of £30m, making it a top player in the fast growing customer publishing magazine sector.

Under the terms of the deal, Seven Publishing Group, whose major shareholders include the Guardian Media Group and Caledonia Investments, acquired all the shares of Square One, with the existing shareholders of Square One becoming shareholders in the combined entity.

Established in July 2003, Seven Publishing Group is an award-winning publishing company with a track record in producing high-quality consumer and customer magazines, including Sainsbury's Magazine and delicious magazine. Seven publishes the largest paid-for food magazine portfolio in the UK with combined circulation sales of nearly 2 million a year.

Established in 1994, London-based Square One Publishing is one of the UK's fastest growing and most highly regarded customer magazine publishers.

Seven Squared now counts Coutts Bank, English Heritage, Fortnum & Mason, HMV, Norwich Union, the RAC and Waterstone's, plus several Government Departments and the Metropolitan Police, amongst its rapidly expanding blue-chip client portfolio.

Edward Hoare, Corporate Partner at Faegre & Benson, led the corporate team on this transaction, assisted by Michael Evans, Simon Hughes and Christabel Oh. Paul Taylor advised on the financing aspects. Jo Evans and Helen Ewing at Lewis Silkin advised the shareholders of Square One.

Edward Hoare said:

"Seven Publishing is a new client and we were delighted to have been selected, following a competitive pitch last year. Seven Squared is an exciting venture which involves some of the biggest names in customer publishing and boasts a rapidly expanding blue-chip client base. We have a lot of experience advising clients in the publishing sector and were well placed to handle this deal. We look forward to working with Seven Squared in the future."