Law firm Stephenson Harwood LLP has advised British chocolatier Hotel Chocolat Group plc on its £40 million fundraising by way of a secondary placing of new ordinary shares at 355 pence per share, as well as an additional retail offer made via the PrimaryBid platform.

The proceeds of the placing and the retail offer will be used to fund capital investment to increase long-term sales capacity and capitalise on anticipated future growth. The joint bookrunners to the placing were Liberum Capital and Peel Hunt.

Stephenson Harwood's finance team also advised Hotel Chocolat on a new £30 million two-year revolving credit facility (RCF) with Lloyds Bank. The RCF, which has an uncapped accordion facility, replaces a £25 million Government's Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme which was never drawn down.

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, and its £22 million fundraising in 2020.

The Stephenson Harwood team was led by corporate finance partner Tom Nicholls, with support from partner Tom Page and associate Jack Digby. Further assistance was provided by senior finance associate Bertie Chilton and associate Katharine Wheatcroft, who both advised Hotel Chocolat on the RCF.