The acquisitions of both publishing outlets are valued at approximately £10m and £1.2m respectively. In order to fund the transaction, Polemos carried out a placing and private subscription of new shares with institutional and private investors to raise £1.02m and issued convertible loan notes to raise £220,000. Shareholder approval for the transaction was obtained on 27 February 2019.
Digitalbox is best-known for its celebrity and entertainment news website 'Entertainment Daily' while Mashed Productions is the parent company of the UK's leading satirical current affairs website 'The Daily Mash' and produces the BBC2 show 'The Mash Report'.
To better reflect the new direction of the business going forward, Polemos has changed its name to Digitalbox plc.
DWF's team of experts specialising in corporate, equity capital markets, tax and employment law provided advice on the legalities involved in the deal, including partners Jeremy Swift and James Cashman, senior associates Jemil Visram, Rachel Gervaise and Stephen Cairns and solicitors Siobhan Cameron, Andrew Carr and Tom Levers.
Jeremy Swift said: "This was a significant and complex deal comprising a hybrid equity capital markets and M&A transaction, requiring us to draw on our corporate and equity capital markets expertise with support from our employment and tax teams. I would like to congratulate the Digitalbox plc team on this landmark transaction which will provide solid foundations to support their ambitions to create a market-leading and mobile-first media business. It is a testament to the strength of their investment proposition that they were able to transact such a complex deal despite the ongoing political and economic uncertainty caused by Brexit. This is only the first step in their buy and build strategy and we look forward to seeing what they do next."
Nigel Burton, director of Digitalbox plc, said: "The Polemos team announced this transaction in September and we are pleased that the new Digitalbox plc group has now been formed. This was a complex transaction involving a number of moving parts but Jeremy and his team at DWF were able to provide the exceptional strategic level advice needed to get this deal done."
