Hill Dickinson Advises on Sale of Market Leading Electronic Cigarette Company

1st May 2014

A team spanning the Sheffield and Manchester offices of International law firm Hill Dickinson has advised on the sale of electronic cigarette company, VIP to US-based Victory Electronic Cigarette Corporation.

Launched by co-founders Miguel Corral and David Levin in 2009, the company has grown quickly to become one of the most profitable electronic cigarette companies in Europe, with a leading presence in England and a number one market position in Ireland. Ian Riggs, Jonathan Gillow and Rhian Hughes from Hill Dickinson's corporate team advised VIP on the sale. Victory purchased the company for £30m via a combination of cash and shares and will take control of the companies various assets, which include retail stores, mobile kiosk units and online commerce facilities. On the deal, Miguel Corral, co-founder of VIP, said: -Everyone at VIP is extremely excited about joining Victory and becoming a driving force behind the largest independent electronic cigarette company in the world. We knew that to effectively compete in the next phase of this industry that we would need to partner with someone that shared our same vision and would facilitate us to achieve our long-term objectives. We chose Victory because they have the people, the resources, and infrastructure that when combined with our team, will enable us to accomplish our vision now just on a global basis, and now much faster. -Hill Dickinson has guided us through the sale process from start to finish and we'd like to thank Ian, Jonathan, Rhian and the rest of the team for their continued support in helping us realise our long-term objectives for VIP. Ian Riggs, Hill Dickinson, added: -We were delighted to assist Miguel and Dave on the transaction and look forward to seeing the VIP business grow and develop further in the E-Cig sector under its new owners, Victory.