James Fisher agrees £27.5m refinancing
MARINE services and shipping specialist James Fisher & Sons has secured a £27.5m refinancing deal with Barclays Corporate.
James Fisher, listed on the London Stock Exchange, began as a regional shipping business in 1847 now operates globally serving a range of sectors such as nuclear and oil and gas.
It has carried out five acquisitions over the past 18 months and plans to continue its growth organically and with more deals. The Barrow-based firm reported profits of £24.7m on sales of £249.6m in the year to March 2010.
Group finance director Stuart Kilpatrick said: “Our business, which is focused on niche businesses within the marine service sector and targeted on rapidly growing, emerging markets, has delivered significant growth in revenue and profit over recent years.
“We have been impressed with the commercial approach taken by Barclays Corporate, their appetite to do business in the current financial climate, and by the professional manner in which the Barclays Corporate team delivered the deal within the timescale required to support our continued expansion.”
The facility was arranged by relationship director Andrew Meadowcroft and Glenn Clarke, director of debt finance at Barclays in Manchester.
James Fisher originally created a fleet of ships to transport iron-rich haematite from Cumbria to support the industrial revolution. By the 1870s it had the largest coastal fleet in the UK.
