BDO's Mergers & Acquisitions team acted as financial adviser to Heart of Midlothian Plc in connection with the takeover by Bidco (1874) Limited, which is owned by Ann Budge. UBIG, a Lithuanian bank had previously controlled the football club before it had entered administration in June 2013. The sale of UBIG's majority shareholding triggered a recommended mandatory offer under the Takeover Code and made the recent June 2014 exit from administration possible. BDO’s Bryan Jackson and Trevor Birch had acted as administrators during the period of administration, and BDO's Mergers & Acquisitions team were subsequently engaged to act as Rule 3 Adviser under the Takeover Code. The BDO teams assisted with the lengthy and challenging negotiations with the Lithuanian banks, discussions with the creditors on the sale of the shares, keeping the football club running and negotiating the acquisition by Bidco.
“We are absolutely delighted as we thought this day would never come… The Foundation would like to thank everyone who has worked tirelessly to get this over the line – BDO, and especially Bryan Jackson”
Ian Murray MP, Chair of the Foundation of Hearts, extracted from Hearts FC website