Keystone Law advises on sale of Halstan & Co to Harrier Group

Keystone Law has advised Halstan Holdings Limited on the sale of its printing businesses and interests in the UK and Germany to US-owned Harrier Group.

Halstan is a fourth-generation family business, which has been owned and managed by the Smith family since 1919, when it was founded by brothers Hal and Stan Smith. Rupert Smith, who became CEO of Halstan in 2020, will continue as executive director.

Halstan established its reputation as a leading specialist printer of music publications, sheet music and scores for Europe’s leading music publishing houses and has built on that heritage to expand into high-quality book printing and binding in the UK and internationally.

The multi-disciplinary Keystone team was led by Intellectual Property partner Rebecca Halford-Harrison and Corporate partners Jeremy Davis and Will Nash, and included Employment partner Rachel Tozer, Pensions consultant solicitor Monica Ma, Restructuring & Insolvency partners Cory Bebb and Patrick Elliot, Tax partner Paul McCourt, and Corporate associate Gabriel Navias.

Christopher Smith of Halstan commented:

“We are extremely grateful to the team at Keystone for their expertise and guidance in leading us through this complex transaction.”

Rebecca Halford-Harrison said:

“We were delighted to support Halstan and the Smith family on this important milestone, which celebrates the company’s rich history and positions the business for its next phase of growth.”