RWK Goodman advises on Gradwell buy-in management buyout

The deal provides an exit for private equity investor Altitude Partners. The fund initially invested £1.1m into the cloud-based telecoms company in 2012, with the exit generating a 2.7 times return on the investment.

Gradwell is a pioneer of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) telephony in the UK. The new management team is led by chief executive Nick Caw and backed by Chiltern Capital. Peter Gradwell, the company's founder, will remain with the business following the deal and has retained a significant equity interest.

Commenting on the transaction, Peter Gradwell noted: "I am grateful for Altitude's help in evolving the business that I founded and assisting me in developing our platform. I'm looking forward to taking Gradwell into the future."

Jonathan Simm, partner at Altitude, added: "This second exit is comfortably in excess of our stated investor cash multiple when we raised our first fund. The fund is performing well and offers a strong reference for the launch of our second regional fund which is now open for new investment."

Katharine Mortimer, head of RWK Goodman's South West Corporate & Commercial team commented: "We were delighted to advise and support Nick, Peter and the rest of the management team on the transaction and look forward to seeing the ongoing success and growth of Gradwell under their stewardship."

Corporate finance advice for the shareholders was provided by Bristol-based Shaw & Co.