Law firm Stephenson Harwood LLP has advised British chocolatier Hotel Chocolat on its £22 million placing through the issue of 9.78 million new ordinary shares at 225 pence per share. The placing was conducted by way of an accelerated bookbuild on Friday and resulted in the initial offering being increased from £20 million due to demand from investors.

Hotel Chocolat, which was founded by Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris in 1993, has traded under the Hotel Chocolat brand since 2003. The company, which sells its products online and through a network of locations in the UK and abroad, was also advised by Stephenson Harwood on its AIM IPO in 2016.

“This is an exciting strategic development for Hotel Chocolat, a long standing client of the firm,” said Tom Nicholls, partner, Stephenson Harwood. “Since advising on its IPO in 2016, we’ve seen the company continue to expand, and this fundraise will be used to further its development and fund its growth capital investment. It was particularly pleasing to be able to work on this matter given the current context and the strength of support the company received from investors.”

The Stephenson Harwood team was led by corporate finance partner Tom Nicholls, with support from partner Tom Page and associate Michelle Gomes.