Clearwater International advises Retail Assist on its MBO

Clearwater International has advised on the MBO of leading IT managed services and solutions provider Retail Assist. The deal sees investment from its original founders, Foresight Group and Royal Bank of Scotland, which will help facilitate its rapid growth strategy to double the size of the business over the next three years.

As a retail and hospitality specialist, Retail Assist is providing the IT managed services and software solutions behind the success of brands such as Harvey Nichols, Karen Millen, ASOS, Oasis, Coast, Warehouse, Vue Cinemas, Pizza Hut, and Cath Kidston. To date the company has achieved exceptional success with its sustained growth, impressive customer portfolio, awards heritage, and excellent talent base, allowing Retail Assist to be in a strong position for future expansion.

Retail Assist provides services and solutions across 66 countries, delivering support in 9 languages and employing 220 people who have been responsible for the company’s success.

Investment has been received from the Nottingham Fund of private equity firm Foresight Group, who manage assets of €2.7bn internationally and is headquartered at The Shard, London.