Professionals: Private equity house makes multi-million pound investment; Corporate finance team advise on major acquisition of European manufacturer

The CMO management team comprising Adrian Saunders, Callum Tasker, Chris Dorey and Liz Orgill

Leeds-based private equity house Key Capital Partners (KCP) has acquired a majority stake in a fast growing online retailer of building materials, Plymouth-based Construction Materials Online (CMO) which operates retail sites supplying DIY builders and small building contractors.

KCP has backed the MBO of the £25m revenue firm that employs 40 staff and has grown sales through its websites by 55% in the last 12 months.

The investment, led by Mike Fell, Philip Duquenoy and James Excell, is the second from KCP’s new fund and marks its sixteenth investment since the private equity firm launched in 2007.

Clydesdale Bank corporate and structured finance team in the South-West and Midlands, led by Ian Howey and Ian Mansell, provided senior debt and working capital facilities to support the KCP investment. A team at GCA Altium comprising managing director Sam Fuller, director Katherine Hobbs and associate Declan O’Connor advised the company and managing shareholders.

Fell and Duquenoy will join the board of CMO alongside operations director Callum Tasker, technical director Chris Dorey, e-commerce director Adrian Saunders and marketing director Liz Orgill.

As part of the MBO, former Gear4music chairman Dean Murray will join the board of CMO as chairman to lead the business through its next stage of growth. During his tenure at York-based Gear4music between 2012 and 2016, sales grew from £10m to over £55m with the business being valued at over £73m by the time KCP realised its remaining stake.

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Poonam Kaur

fds Director Services, with offices in Wakefield, London and Birmingham, has advised on the sale of Norbar Torque Tools Holdings, a manufacturer of torque tools, to US-based Snap-on Incorporated.

Norbar was incorporated by William Brodey in 1943, supplying to a range of markets which include general manufacturing, oil and gas, transportation and aerospace. Four third generation family members continue to operate the business which has its head office in Banbury, Oxfordshire.

The company was approached by Snap-on Incorporated, a New York Stock Exchange-listed company, to acquire the holdings business, along with its wholly-owned companies in Singapore and India and also its US and Chinese joint ventures.

Leading the deal for fds was managing director Poonam Kaur, supported by CEO Jo Haigh, who worked alongside Penningtons Manches to deliver a successful sale.

 

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Hull commercial law firm Myton Law has advised food packaging group Grafham Holdings on the acquisition of a controlling stake in paper bag manufacturer Delta Pack.

Grafham Holdings’ acquisition of a majority shareholding in Birmingham-based Delta Pack, which manufactures 400 million paper bags a year for the UK retail and food markets, including plain, branded, grease-resistant and foil-laminated bags, for an undisclosed sum was completed at the end of April.

James Westwood, corporate and commercial lawyer at Myton Law, said: “Following our work for Grafham Holdings advising on the earlier acquisition of Retail Packaging Solutions (RPS) in 2016, we were delighted to support Grafham once again and wish them continued success.”

Kent-based Grafham Holdings, which expects turnover of £20m this year, comprises five food packaging companies and Delta Pack is a supplier to group company RPS, which supplies pizza boxes, bags, trays and tray liners from its Sutton-in-Ashfield facility.

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