CMS has advised Bluestone Equity Partners (Bluestone) on its role leading a $55m growth equity investment in Poolhouse, the technology-enabled cue sports company founded by Steve and Dave Jolliffe, the creators of Topgolf and Puttshack.
Bluestone is an institutionally-backed global private equity firm focused on the sports, media and entertainment industry. The investment will fund the global expansion of Poolhouse’s proprietary technology platform, BillyQ – Poolhouse’s proprietary-vision processing platform, which was developed with the team behind Hawk-Eye – and the continued rollout of its premium, tech-enabled venues.
Nick Crosbie, CMS Corporate Partner, commented: “We are pleased to have advised Bluestone on this transaction and to support its strategy of backing ambitious, technology-enabled businesses with significant global growth potential. The deal reflects continued investor appetite for companies operating at the intersection of technology and sport. CMS is well placed to advise clients in this fast-evolving market, combining deep sector knowledge with the strength of our international corporate, intellectual property and tax practices.”
Jake Harris, Principal at Bluestone Equity Partners, said: “As our first investment in the UK, this transaction marks an important milestone for Bluestone and reflects our confidence in Poolhouse’s management team and growth prospects. It has been a pleasure to work with Nick and the CMS team, who supported us every step of the way. Their collaborative approach, commercial mindset and ability to draw on expertise from across the firm were invaluable in helping us complete the investment successfully.”
The multidisciplinary CMS team was led by Nick Crosbie and included Christopher Han, Ahmad Akbar and Vienna Leung (Corporate); Joel Vertes, Lucinda Beasley and Andrew Smith (IP); and Stephen Hignett and Alexander Oldland (Tax).
