Field Seymour Parkes advises Cohort Plc on their acquisition of Chess Technologies

Chess Technologies is a world leader in integrated fire control and tracking systems for military vehicles and naval ships and employs approximately 140 employees.  It has its headquarters in Horsham as well as facilities in Plymouth and Wokingham within the UK and Denver, Colorado in the US.  Chess Technologies becomes Cohort’s fifth stand alone subsidiary and its first foothold in US defence, providing opportunities to leverage complimentary expertise and capabilities. The acquisition sees Chess Technologies existing management team being retained.

Chess Technologies was acquired for a total cash consideration of up to £41.9m comprising initial cash consideration of £20.1m for 81.84% of the shares, further earn out consideration of up to £12.7m payable in 2021 dependent on the achievement of certain performance targets and as part of the transaction Cohort was granted an option to acquire the remaining issued share capital of Chess Technologies after 30 April 2021 for a total consideration dependent on the performance of the company during this period.

The team at FSP was led by corporate partner Jeremy Parkes with assistance from corporate partners Penelope Garden and Rachael Maunder with support from Cathrine Ripley, Bill Dixon and others in the firm’s Business Services Team.