LONDON, February 8, 2008 – Lawyers from the London office of Morrison & Foerster MNP advised DFJ Esprit on the sale of portfolio company Buy.at to AOL.
Buy.at, backed by DFJ Esprit and founded in 2002, is a leading independent affiliate network that provides a platform for performance-based ecommerce marketing programmes to advertisers and publishers. With offices in London and Newcastle in the UK and in New York in the U.S., buy.at employs approximately 70 people, offers affiliate marketing in both the U.S. and UK and counts over 200 leading ecommerce businesses as its clients.
Morrison & Foerster fielded a large inter-disciplinary team, all with substantial experience of advising technology sector clients. The team included partners Paul Claydon and James Gubbins, and associates Matthew Edwards and Kristian Shearsby from corporate; partner Chris Coulter from the firm’s technology transactions group; and tax partner Trevor James.
Paul Claydon, head of the corporate group in Morrison & Foerster’s London office commented, “We were delighted to advise DFJ Esprit on our first sell-side representation for them. Cross-border M&A transactions of this type in the technology sector are right in our sweet spot. We add value on these deals by fielding a combined team of corporate lawyers with a genuine technology sector focus and full-time technology transaction and intellectual property lawyers.
In spite of the current economic climate, we’re seeing an increase in M&A in the tech sector, and a trend towards international corporates seeking to acquire and exploit technology developed in the UK.”
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.