Warrington tech firm is bought for £88m
Warrington technology firm IESA has been sold in a deal worth £88m.
Electrocomponents, a FTSE 250 distributor of electronics, engineering tools and consumables has bought the business.
The sale provides an exit for Gresham Private Equity, who invested in the company through a Management Buy Out in 2012.
Teams led by Richard Thomas, a partner in EY’s UK Law team, and gunnercooke corporate partner Mark Whittaker advised on the sale of IESA, a market leading business process outsourcer.
IESA has frequently appeared in both the Tech Track and Profit Track rankings and is recognised for its innovative approach to the management of clients’ inventory stock.
Supported by an award-winning cloud based digital IT platform, the company aims to achieve significant savings on working capital.
IESA acquired Active Industrial Supply in 2017 as part of an ongoing growth strategy and operates across Germany, Ireland, Singapore and the UK.
The deal represents the next step in its impressive growth trajectory, which has been supported by a number of significant client wins.
Electrocomponents plc is member of the listed Electrocomponents group, a leading global high-service distributor of engineering products and supports customers with a broad range of industrial and electronic products and services.
The transaction will create a complementary group across procurement and distribution, with real growth opportunities for both entities.
Glenn Timms, chief of IESA, and his executive team will remain with the business, following its integration with the Group.
EY’s UK Law practice advised Electrocomponents on the transaction, working closely alongside Ian Haslegrave and Alex Winter from the Electrocomponents in-house legal team.
EY’s Law team on the transaction was led by Richard Thomas and Rob Warren, supported by Phil McDonnell (Competition/Commercial), Colette Withey (Commercial), Anisa Hanif (Corporate), Mercy Mba (Corporate) and Conor Brindley (Tax).
Ian Haslegrave, general counsel and company secretary of Electrocomponents, said: “We are delighted to have completed this acquisition – the combined capabilities of IESA and Electrocomponents will be a real market differentiator, greatly improving both the experience and the range of solutions that we can offer customers.
“We were very impressed with the support provided to us by the EY Law team throughout, both the quality of their technical expertise and their broader commercial approach. The transaction was not straightforward, and we worked well together to navigate a number of challenging issues.”
Mark Whittaker led the gunnercooke team of lawyers who advised IESA on the transaction, supported by Will Squires (Corporate), Simon Horsfield (Employment), Jill Parker (Banking), Adam Bushby (Pensions), Chris Powell (Commercial IT), Saad Ahmed (Tax), Liz Roberts (Property).
