WaterBear Education

Cognos UK / HMT, led by Partners Andrew Thomson and Ricky Lane advised the shareholders including Maven Capital Partners (“Maven”) and the management team on the disposal of WaterBear Education, a specialist higher education provider for musicians and creative artists to School of Arts, a private higher education group focused on performing and visual arts across France and Belgium.

WaterBear is a private college working in partnership with a University offering Master of Arts and BA (Hons) Degree programmes to creative people and was set up to help aspiring musicians and artists build sustainable careers in a rapidly evolving music industry. WaterBear had anticipated this industry shift and set out to build an education model that blended academic study with real-world industry experience, equipping students with the creative, commercial and entrepreneurial skills needed to succeed as independent artists.

Maven first invested in WaterBear in 2018, a transaction HMT advised on, providing growth capital to support the launch and development of an innovative music education business founded by music industry and education entrepreneurs Adam Bushell and Bruce Dickinson. Since it’s inception the business has successfully launched two sites in Brighton and Sheffield with the support of Maven and other institutions.

SoA is a leading French group of 12 specialised higher education institutions in the creative and artistic fields operating over 21 campuses with decades of history and experience in the industry in France and welcoming over 3,000 students per year. The Group is funded by Seven2 and Groupe Finoli and WaterBear represents their first acquisition in the UK market. The HMT team, acted as sell-side advisor on the transaction which included negotiating detailed terms, building a strong financial model, supporting the business through an extensive due diligence process and project managing the deal to a successful completion.

The team at HMT have played a key role in WaterBear’s journey having first secured the funding for Bruce and I to launch our first college in Brighton and we are delighted to have had their support during this successful exit eight years later. Their technical expertise, commercial insight and hands-on support throughout the transaction were outstanding. The team was responsive, proactive and focused on delivering the best possible outcome for all the stakeholders involved in the deal. We could not have asked for better advisers and would highly recommend HMT to any business owner considering a sale. Adam Bushell, Co-founder of WaterBear

WaterBear is an excellent example of Maven backing an ambitious management team with a clear vision and a differentiated proposition. Despite being pre-revenue, Adam and Bruce had a proven track record in the sector, identified a substantial gap in the market, and had a clear plan on how they would deliver sustainable growth. Their success is a testament to their hard work and positive culture they have built at WaterBear. HMT’s support throughout the process was invaluable and we wish the Management team the very best as they continue to scale the business under new investors. Sanjay Patel, Portfolio Director at Maven

We are delighted to have had the opportunity of advising the shareholders throughout the journey of Waterbear from its inception to its successful disposal. It has been a privilege to see its progress and development first hand and ultimately help deliver this successful transaction. The outcome is testament to the quality of the business and the management’s teams hard work in building a market-leading education platform and the support from Maven and its other stakeholders. We are delighted to have advised the shareholders on achieving an excellent result and wish the business every success in its next chapter. Andrew Thomson, Partner at Cognos UK

Andrew Thomson

Ricky Lane