Macfarlanes advises Caledonia on its investment in Blue Diamond

Macfarlanes has advised Caledonia Investments plc, the FTSE250 investment trust, on an investment in Blue Diamond Limited, the UK’s leading garden centre operator.

Caledonia will make a minority investment on completion and has agreed a framework with Blue Diamond to make follow-on capital available over the next five years to support acquisitions, investment in the estate and shareholder liquidity.

Blue Diamond operates 54 garden centres across the UK and Channel Islands, spanning gardening, home and leisure, and food and hospitality. It occupies a leading position in the market and intends to continue its strategy of accretive acquisitions and investment in its core estate to improve sales and profitability.

The transaction remains subject to approval by Blue Diamond's shareholders and is expected to complete in early July.

The Macfarlanes team was led by M&A Partner Nicholas Page, alongside M&A Partner Stephen Drewitt and with support from Senior Associate Ollie Morris and Associate Harris Grigoriou. Real Estate advice was led by Partner Dan Marriott with assistance from Senior Associate Elizabeth Fielding and Senior Associate Isabella Dierden-Hunt. Partner Jeremy Moncrieff led on tax aspects with support from Associate Vitalii Trachuk. Employment advice was provided by Senior Associate Louise Pereira and Associate Daniel Esam.

Nicholas Page comments: “This is a fantastic transaction for Caledonia and it was a pleasure to work with the team again. Blue Diamond is a clear market leader with ambitions to seize the opportunities in their sector, and this partnership with Caledonia will enable them to pursue the next phase of their growth.”