SLOTINE advised French company Yoopies on the acquisition of the entire share capital of Hong Kong company HelperChoice. Yoopies established itself as Europe’s first platform for online childcare, allowing families to choose home care professionals based on social recommendation. Yoopies was founded by Benjamin Suchar and Jessica Cymerman in 2012 and now operates in 16 European countries. This acquisition allows Yoopies to expand to Asia and become the world No. 1 online global platform in services to individuals outside the United States[1].
HelperChoice provides an online recruitment platform connecting employers to helpers. It is the leading platform in Hong Kong and Singapore[2], two key countries for homecare. HelperChoice was created in 2012 by Laurence Fauchon and Florian Garivier, two French expatriates in Hong Kong. The start-up revolutionised home-based employment by offering a completely free matchmaking service for domestic workers, without going through unscrupulous middlemen collecting often illegal and exorbitant fees. The platform already facilitated more than 50,000 recruitments and prevented the collection of more than 60 million euros illegal placement fees from job-seekers[3]. The social impact of HelperChoice has been recognised by several non-governmental organisations such as the International Labour Organisation and was awarded the Impact World Award Hong Kong Edition in 2016.
Yoopies and HelperChoice share the same ethical founding values: eradicating modern slavery and revolutionising the employment agency industry through technology. The cross-border transaction was completed in April 2019.
SLOTINE’s advice to the founders of Yoopies covered all legal aspects of the transaction, notably the legal due diligence, the drafting of the share purchase agreement and the change of nominated operator for the employment agency licence held by HelperChoice.
The buyer was advised by Maëva Slotine (Partner) and Mathilde Chator (Associate) at SLOTINE | Hong Kong solicitor’s firm.
The sellers were advised by William P. Kahn (Partner) at Kahn Partners in Washington D.C. and Loise Couturier (Partner) in the firm’s Paris office.
[1] “Yoopies’ expansion into Asia now positions it as the number one global platform in services to individuals outside of the US”, Yoopies press release (9 July 2019), HelperChoice acquired by Yoopies to boost ethical domestic help services in Asia.
[2] “HelperChoice is the leading online recruitment platform in Hong Kong and Singapore”, ibid.
[3] “HelperChoice facilitated more than 50,000 recruitments and estimates that more than 60 million euros of illegal placement fees were saved”, ibid.