680 jobs saved as nmcn businesses sold out of administration
SVELLA, the investment vehicle set up to acquire controlling interests in distressed and underperforming businesses, has acquired the telecoms, plant hire, transport and accommodation business divisions of nmcn out of administration, securing over 680 jobs.
On Monday (4 October), nmcn announced its intention to appoint administrators and, since then, SVELLA says it has been working with administrators at Grant Thornton to “consider options within a short timeframe to secure the best future for the businesses in the group and their employees”.
Joint administrators were formally appointed and terms have been agreed with them to acquire these divisions.
The acquisition by SVELLA will enable the telecoms division to continue servicing customer contracts, including telecoms infrastructure services for BT, Virgin Media and CityFibre, thereby ensuring continuity of service and maintaining supply chain integrity and security for the numerous businesses, contractors and traders within it.
Acquisition of the plant hire, transport and accommodation businesses, which include an extensive fleet of plant, machinery, vehicles, mobile offices and welfare units will allow SVELLA to ensure the telecoms business has access to the assets it needs to successfully trade as a going concern.
SVELLA says will be best positioned to ensure the ongoing hire of these assets to the other business divisions, which may be acquired out of administration by other parties.
SVELLA is also a secured creditor over the operating properties of the nmcn business, secured against its outstanding bridging facility.
Andrew Tinkler, SVELLA chairman, said: “The acquisition of the telecoms, plant, transport and accommodation business divisions by SVELLA safeguards over 680 important skilled roles and secures continuity of service for key national telecoms infrastructure clients.
“Nmcn was one of the UK’s fastest-growing telecoms contractors and was actively supporting the government’s ambitions for nationwide coverage of ultrafast fibre broadband through a number of significant infrastructure contracts and frameworks. We aim to continue to deliver on these ambitions.
“These business divisions have growth potential and we will work closely with management teams to develop a comprehensive strategic plan and provide the support and investment to deliver operational excellence, enhance their customer proposition and facilitate growth.
“SVELLA would like to thank Daniel Booth, Phil Deyes and Sean Williams at Leonard Curtis for their professional advisory services, which helped deliver a positive outcome for the affected employees. It was also supported by Ged Barnes – and his legal team members Sarah Foster, Calum Redhead, Jason Scott and Sam Urry – at Addleshaw Goddard.”
