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JŠK advises 3TS Capital Partners and BHS Private Equity on their investments in ZOOT

JŠK successfully provided comprehensive legal advice to 3TS Capital Partners and BHS Private Equity Fund in relation to their investments in ZOOT.

JŠK represented a fund managed by 3TS Capital Partners, one of the leading European venture capital and private equity firms, on its EUR 2 million investment in ZOOT and also BHS Private Equity Fund, established by BHS Securities, a licensed securities trader, a member of the Prague Stock Exchange and one of the major non-banking securities traders in the Czech capital market, on its EUR 2.5 million investment in ZOOT.

ZOOT, the leading Czech online fashion store, has made it to number 43 on the prestigious FT1000 list of Europe’s fastest growing companies. At the beginning of April, the Financial Times compiled a list of the thousand fastest growing companies in Europe, called the FT1000. It lists companies in Europe that achieved the highest percentage growth in revenues between 2012 and 2015.

“We plan to mainly use this extra capital to strengthen our logistic and IT segments. And we’ll also use it to build more of our customer-friendly Try&Buy stores that allow our customers to try on online ordered items and pay for only the ones that fit best,” explained ZOOT’s co-founder and CEO, Ladislav Trpák.

Partner Tomáš Doležil headed up the JŠK team. Nick Johnson, of-counsel, advised on the English law aspects of the transaction. Senior associate Helena Hailichová provided legal services to 3TS Capital Partners. Michal Jendželovský, senior associate, and the due diligence team made up of junior associates Michaela Krajíčková, Barbora Šafaříková and Štěpán Štancl advised BHS Private Equity Fund.

Commenting on the deal, Tomáš Doležil said: “We were delighted to assist 3TS Capital Partners on its additional investments into this successful business and BHS Private Equity Fund on their entry into the e-commerce sector. We all believe that ZOOT will continue to be a major success story and that the new investments will contribute to this success.”

Luděk Palata, partner, BHS Private Equity Fund, said: “We have been following Zoot’s performance since the very beginning. We have been impressed with their marketing skills, operational excellence and extremely customer friendly attitude, which are the reasons Zoot is constantly developing not only in the home market but now also within the region. Zoot largely uses advanced IT.”

“Hence the company benefits from sophisticated logistics and the management has a mass of relevant data which allows them to put together the best possible offer and provide outstanding service. We are happy to have the opportunity to partner with such a good company and contribute to its further growth. During the due diligence and transaction negotiation we have been carefully guided by the JŠK team led by Tomáš Doležil. Thanks to their deep knowledge of the situation and professionalism the transaction was completed smoothly and quickly.”

Jiří Beneš, a 3TS Capital Partners partner, said: “ZOOT has been part of our portfolio since our initial investment in 2014 and we are very satisfied with the dramatic growth the company has delivered since then. We believe the fashion retail business will continue to shift rapidly to online space and the CEE market is poised for high growth rates. ZOOT is well positioned to use this opportunity in the next several years.”

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About JŠK

JŠK is a mid-sized law firm delivering services for clients in all areas of commercial law, with particular experience in M&A, finance and banking, insurance, construction, real estate and energy regulation. The firm has been operating on the Czech market since 2004 and among its clients are respected banks, insurance companies, private equity funds and corporations as well as mid-sized enterprises and investors.

JŠK is a member of a unique network of commercial law firms called PONTES, which includes law firms from most of the Central and Eastern European countries.