Couchman Harrington Associates, the leading sports business law firm, acted for Essentially Group
Limited, the AIM-listed sports marketing, media, management and professional services group
(“Essentially”), on its acquisition this week of Arundel Promotions Limited (“Arundel”). Arundel was
established by Alec Stewart OBE, England’s most capped cricketer, and Alan Smith, a highly
respected former football manager and coach, and is one of the UK’s leading cricket and football
sports’ personality and event management businesses.

This is the sixth major acquisition by Essentially on which Couchman Harrington’s Sports Ventures
Unit has advised in the last 2 years. The firm initially acted for the sellers of 2 businesses to
Essentially, and its work on those transactions led to Essentially instructing the firm on its last 4
acquisitions.

Head of Couchman Harrington’s Sports Ventures Unit, Satish Khandke, said: “Having initially
impressed Essentially with our work across the table from them it is very gratifying that they have
subsequently instructed us to act for them on a string of significant deals. We think that this reflects
how happy Essentially are with the service that we provide to them, and that we have met or
exceeded the expectations they had when they decided to instruct us initially.”

Dwight Mighty, Chief Operating Officer of Essentially Group said: “Some people may have been
surprised when a listed company such as Essentially decided to use a niche firm like Couchman
Harrington on transactions of such major significance for our business. However, we have
instructed them on a number of important transactions now and they continue to impress us with
their ability to get the job done well. Basically, they are specialists in our industry and as such they
handle our transactions with great efficiency. We see them not just as lawyers but as expert
industry advisers.”

For further information contact:
Satish Khandke: satish.khandke@couchmanharrington.com