North West team leads on logistics firm’s refinancing and acquisition 

Adrian Reed

The Manchester team of global investment bank GCA Altium has advised Livingbridge portfolio company Carousel Logistics on its refinancing and acquisition of time-critical logistics company BDA Logistics Innovation.

Carousel provides specialist logistics solutions to high performance industries across Europe, in the agriculture, medtech, high-tech, scientific and automotive sectors, plus other service-focused industries.

Using its own marketing-leading technology platform, Gateway, Carousel clients have access to all available transport data from across their supply chain.

By connecting its multi-national blue-chip clients to its flexible air and road network, Carousel ensures the reliable transportation of mission-critical parts and products across Europe.

Carousel is headquartered in Sittingbourne, Kent, but also has bases in Birmingham, Dublin and Germany.

Logistics provider BDA operates across mainland Europe, the UK and Ireland.

The company has hubs in Birmingham, Frankfurt, Dublin and Maastricht, the Netherlands, and specialises in time-critical spare part supply chain solutions.

The acquisition significantly expands the Carousel group’s European reach, growing the company by more than 50%, and extending its service portfolio and transport lanes.

The deal will strengthen the company’s existing operations in Germany, Ireland and the UK, and extend operations to The Netherlands.

The acquisition is also a major milestone for Carousel, as it continues to extend its European service and technology platform, Gateway.

A GCA Altium team comprising Adrian Reed, Andy Battersby and Durgesh Panchani, advised the shareholders of Carousel on the transaction.

GCA’s Simon Chambers, Shane Dulabdas and Freddie Light also provided debt refinancing advice on the deal.

Jon Cooper, Mathew Edwards and Eddie Heaton of PWC advised the shareholders of Carousel on financial due diligence, and an Eversheds team, including Ian Moore and Gavin O’Flaherty, provided legal advice.

Adrian Reed, managing director at GCA Altium, said: “This acquisition is a perfect case study in using selective M&A to strategically grow a group.

“Carousel is a market-leader in its field, using a differentiated technology platform to provide a service that high-performance manufacturers cannot provide in-house, and with the addition of BDA, Carousel has bolstered its European capabilities.

“It has been a pleasure working with the Carousel management team and Livingbridge, and we look forward to their future success.”

Carousel co-founder and group chief executive, Graham Martin, said: “As the demand for service-logistics continues to grow, it is important that we continue to provide the right technology, network and services that our clients need.

“With an impressive client portfolio and high service levels we have admired BDA for some time, particularly because they share in our belief for delivering exceptional service solutions for situations.

“In coming together we have completed a critical step in achieving our goal of becoming Europe’s leader for aftermarket solutions and technology.”

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