Endless acquisition secures Deal of the Month

THE £27m acquisition of a Willenhall engineering firm by turnaround specialist Endless LLP has been selected by an independent panel of judges as TheBusinessDesk.com’s Deal of the Month for January.

TheBusinessDesk.com has joined forces with Birmingham Forward to celebrate the region’s deals and dealmakers. The Deal of the Month award is bestowed on the MBO, IPO, takeover, financing or restructure that in the opinion of the judges shows the best combination of regional involvement, creativity and impact.

Judges said the deal which resulted in the acquisition of Niagara Lasalle (UK) Ltd represented “the best of Birmingham from one end of Colmore Row to the other”.

The deal was largely advised in the West Midlands, with the involvement of Gambit Corporate Finance, Wragge & Co, Cobbetts and Eversheds.

Niagara Lasalle, which employs more than 300 people and operates from six processing and distribution operations throughout the UK, was acquired from its US parent Niagara Corporation

The deal was the second completed by Endless in a matter of days following its acquisition of turnover outsourcing specialist Liberata for £20m.

Deal of the Month judges said they thought the heightened level of activity was a sign of things to come from Endless and predicted that more deals would follow as the year progressed.

Niagara provides hot rolled and bright steel bars in engineering steel grades and has approximately 5,000 customers across the UK, Europe and North America ranging from major automotive OEMs to general manufacturers and specialist engineers. Turnover in 2010 was more than £60m.

GE Capital provided facilities to support both working capital and acquisition funding. The investment represents the 12th deal from Endless LLP’s Fund II and its sixth investment in the Midlands.

The panel of judges said the £40m deal which saw Netherlands-based  Macintosh Retail Group secure Jones Bookmaker was worthy of mention. The deal was advised by Clearwater Corporate Finance and law firm Browne Jacobson.

The sale out of administration of Sutton Coldfield based WTA Global Holdings – operator of Birmingham’s big wheel – to Elliot Hall by the Birmingham office of Begbies Traynor was also noteworthy because it secured the jobs on 85 people. Likewise, the sale of Blade Tooling in Pershore to Jon Moulton’s Better Capital by KPMG, was also highlighted for securing the jobs of 60 workers.

Nick Leitch, Endless’s Birmingham-based director said he was delighted with his firm’s recognition.

“We were delighted to be able to take a lead role in the purchase of this company and it was great that we were able to use so many local advisers,” he said.

“Niagara is a good manufacturer, with strong routes in the area and it’s doing very well. With our help we hope it will do even better.”

For the purposes of judging, Darren Walker, associate in the corporate team at Cobbetts, was exempt from voting on the Endless deal due to his direct involvement with it.

However, Adrian Cutler, a partner in the firm’s corporate team, said: “In a challenging environment we were very happy to work with Tarlok (Singh, chief executive of Niagara Lasalle), Endless and GE to make this deal happen.

“The current economy throws up a host of wider issues that must be addressed, and once again I am proud that Cobbetts could assist by delivering innovative solutions to make sure that Tarlok and his funders could achieve a fantastic result. We look forward to continuing to work with Niagara in what promises to be an exciting and successful future.”