Advising on the sale of The Light

We have advised UK cinema and leisure space operator The Light and its shareholders on its sale to hospitality entrepreneur Luke Johnson and Risk Capital Partners, with co-investment from Melcorpo.

The deal involved the sale of the entire share capital of Light Cinemas Group Limited by its shareholders, including investor clients of Connection Capital and the founders and current senior management team. The transaction fully recapitalises the business and equips it with over £15m of capital to initiate its growth target to double in size over the next three years.

The Light at its core is a cinema group, but its unique entertainment model means its offering also includes bowling, mini golf, interactive darts, climbing, and karaoke. It has consistently grown over its time under Connection Capital’s backing, in part down to the successful deployment of its destination entertainment concept – creating an entertainment offering tailored specifically to the local demographics of each of its venues.

Gateley Legal’s team was led by partner and Nottingham head of corporate Victoria Elliott, and was assisted by corporate senior associates Rachael Mitchison and Jamie Gillespie, employment partner Helen Burgess, partner and head of tax James Gopsill, restructuring partner Dan French, restructuring solicitor Oliver Salmon, banking solicitor James Allen, banking trainee solicitor Harry Rowe, corporate paralegals Callum Bourne, Valerian Beaujot, Elizabeth Cole, and Liberty Dicken, and graduate solicitor apprentice Charlize-Li Clark.

Victoria Elliott commented: “We are delighted to have advised The Light and its shareholders on its sale to Luke Johnson and Risk Capital Partners. This was a complex transaction that required dedication and substantial support over a number of months from teams across several disciplines from Gateley Legal to complete. The transaction sparks a new phase of growth for the business and the opportunity to continue its rollout across the UK.”