Advising Sullivan Street Partners on its sale of Tivoli

We have advised Sullivan Street Partners, a UK-based mid-market buy-out specialist, on its sale of grounds maintenance company Tivoli to the Nurture Group.

Tivoli provides grounds and winter maintenance, arboriculture, interior planting and floristry to both public and private sectors across the UK.

Sullivan Street acquired the business in 2018 from ISS, a deal on which we advised, and rebranded to Tivoli that same year. Under Sullivan Street’s ownership, Tivoli has grown significantly, building its extensive client portfolio considerably during this time. Tivoli is now the fourth-largest player in the grounds maintenance and landscaping industry, ready for its next phase of growth. We also advised on the bolt-on acquisitions of Sodexo Horticultural Services in 2021 and Greenfingers Landscape in 2023.

Commenting on the transaction, Jonny Bethell, private equity partner, said: "It has been great to work once again with Sullivan Street and advise on the successful sale of Tivoli, having advised on the original investment and the M&A along the way. The company has achieved significant growth and development under Sullivan Street's ownership. I look forward to watching their continued success under Nurture's ownership."

Layton Tamberlin, managing partner of Sullivan Street Partners added: "In many ways this was a classic Sullivan Street deal, where we were not deterred by significant complexity on entry and were ready to roll up our sleeves to tackle the business’ operational challenges in the early years of our ownership. We are incredibly proud of the first-class business we have helped build at Tivoli and for the last few years it has been rewarding to watch the business succeed so well. Nurture will be a perfect fit to continue delivering a best-in-class service to its customers.

Taylor Wessing have been there for us from the very beginning on this transaction, where the acquisition was extremely complicated. James and Jonny excel in delivering commercially relevant and strategic legal advice and we really value their expertise, guidance and insight, but also their consistency and loyalty over time, in all the transactions we work on together."

The team was led by partner Jonny Bethell and also included partner James Goold, senior associate Alexandra Poland, associate Kayla Sinclair and trainee solicitor Miranda Robertson in the private equity team.

The wider team included: