London — Mayer Brown has advised private equity firm Epiris on Epiris Fund III’s acquisition of Pure Cremation, the leading provider of prepaid funeral plans in the UK. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to complete before the end of the year.
Pure allows people to organise their own end-of-life arrangements, relieving their families from the stress of doing so. Pure is also a market pioneer in ‘direct cremations’ – low-cost, simple and unattended cremations which allow families and friends to mark their loss at a time and place of their choosing. The group operates a state-of-the-art crematorium near Andover, Hampshire which is the busiest in the country, serving the entire UK.
Epiris is working with industry veteran and former CEO of SunLife Insurance Dean Lamble, who will join the company’s board as Group Chief Executive, alongside COO Mark Seastron and CFO Rob Murphy.
The Mayer Brown team was led by Private Equity partner Electra Callan and included Private Equity senior associate Danny Williams, and associates James Beattie and Erna Soljanin; Tax partners Matthew Mortimer and Simon Rose and associate Tamar Ruiz; Financial Services Regulatory & Enforcement partner Chris Chapman and associate Charlotte Tarr; Employment & Benefits partner Christopher Fisher and senior associate Sarah Reeve-Young; Banking & Finance partner Musonda Kapotwe, senior associate Bridget Polkinghorne and associate Kirstin Swanepoel; Real Estate partner Iain Roberts and associates Tanaz Nowrouzzadeh, Kirsty McLeish and Julia Wyszomirska; Intellectual Property partner Oliver Yaros and associate Ellen Hepworth; Environmental and Planning partner Tim Baines and consultant Michael Hutchinson.
