Addleshaws, TLT advise as WH Smith offloads £24m Funky Pigeon card business

Addleshaw Goddard and TLT landed lead roles on Card Factory’s £24 million acquisition of personalised greetings card business Funky Pigeon from WH Smith.

The deal sees listed Card Factory - best known for its high street presence - become the UK’s second largest online card and gifting retailer. Funky Pigeon, which operates from Bristol and Guernsey, has averaged around £32 million in annual revenue and £5 million in EBITDA over the past two years.

Strategic shift

For iconic high street retailer WH Smith, the sale marks another step in its push to shed legacy assets and focus on its core travel retail business.

That strategy took shape in March when it sold 480 stores to UK private equity firm Modella Capital in a £76 million deal - a move that will see the WH Smith brand disappear entirely from those sites. HSF Kramer (pre-merger) and Browne Jacobson advised on that transaction.

Advising

On the Funky Pigeon deal, AG advised Card Factory, with a team led by private equity head Paul Medlicott and associate Eleanor Chatterton, alongside specialists from corporate, tax, commercial and competition.

TLT acted for WH Smith, fielding a multi-disciplinary team led by corporate head Andrew Webber, partner James Webb and managing associate Nicola Bilner. The firm also acted on WH Smith’s original Funky Pigeon acquisition back in 2010.