Manufacturer acquisition creates £100m window group
Private investment group Cairngorm Capital has acquired a Halifax window manufacturer, creating a £100m-turnover group.
It will be merging with another Cairngorm portfolio company, Customade Group.
The combined group will have 900 employees across 10 sites.
Though combining under the Customade name, the Polyframe brand will be retained for the PVCu range of windows and doors.
John Lightowlers, Customade managing director, will become the group MD and hold a “significant” ownership stake. He will be joined by Jon Gatfield, Polyframe’s interim managing director and Cairngorm Capital’s operating partner, as well as Lance Gillett, Polyframe’s finance director who joined the company from Masco UK in 2016.
David Moore, non-executive director of Polyframe will become chairman of the enlarged group.
Polyframe is not new to the Cairngorm group. The private investment house is its majority investor, and it backed a management buy-out of the business last year led by chief executive Ian Macdougal which led to the exit of chairman Martyn Buckley.
Founded in 1980, Customade is based in Gloucestershire at a 100,000 sq ft site employing 320 people. It has a turnover of £35m.
It is Cairngorm’s fourth acquisition in the window and door sector since July 2016 when it acquired Co. Durham-based Window Bureau and the Stevenswood manufacturing facility in Livingston in November 2016.
John Naylor-Leyland of Cairngorm Capital commented, “We are delighted to invest further in Polyframe to facilitate this proprietary, off-market merger between Polyframe and Customade and to support the combined group’s plans for the future. John and his team have consistently demonstrated their ability to capitalise on emerging product and service trends.
“Customade has an outstanding reputation in the industry for supplying high-quality branded aluminium products, which together with the excellence of its operational capabilities and the calibre of its staff, make it the natural partner to enhance Polyframe’s leading PVCu window and composite door range.”
Jon Gatfield, Polyframe’s interim Group Managing Director and Cairngorm Capital Operating Partner, said, “Since July 2016, we at Polyframe have undertaken a range of strategic initiatives to develop a best-in-class offering for our trade customers, strengthen our manufacturing operations and extend our geographic presence.
“Customade’s market-leading and proprietary products complement, expand and differentiate Polyframe’s product offering, particularly in the rapidly growing aluminium sector. The merger will accelerate our initiatives and secure our position as the largest trade fabricator of windows and doors to the UK installer market.”
John Lightowlers, group managing director of the enlarged group added, “This is the perfect partnership for two businesses with shared values, a market-leading suite of products and a commitment to the highest standards of customer service. There are great opportunities across the sector and as an enlarged group we look forward to meeting all trade customers’ product needs.”
Polyframe and Cairngorm Capital were advised on this transaction by PwC and Livingstone (debt advisory). MidCap Financial, alongside Polyframe’s existing lender, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank Group, provided senior debt to support the transaction as well as the enlarged group’s continued investment in its manufacturing sites.
A team from Bond Dickinson led by Simon Pilling including associate Rebecca Whitehouse and partner John Connor, acted on behalf of Polyframe.
Simon Pilling, partner at Bond Dickinson said: “We have worked with Polyframe and Cairngorm Capital on a series of transactions over the last twelve months. We’re delighted to have helped Cairngorm Capital and Polyframe deliver this transformational acquisition.”
