Bumper price expected for cable maker Hellermann Tyton

HELLERMANN Tyton, recently ranked as the North West’s fastest growing private-equity backed company, is up for sale with a £700m price tag, according to reports.

The Wythenshawe-based cable manufacturer, which was ranked seventh nationally in the Buyout Track 100, is currently owned by Doughty Hanson.

It makes and distributes more than 20,000 different products with 32 offices worldwide and a workforce of 2,650.

Reports in recent days said Doughty Hanson has appointed investment bank UBS to handle the sale of the business, which it has owned since 2005.

Hellermann Tyton was founded  in Manchester in the 1930s and now has operations in more than 30 countries. It supplies a number of markets including automotive, telecoms, security, rail and defence.

The company was placed in the top 10 in the Deloitte Buyout Track 100 after boosting profits by more than 90% in the last two years.

In the year to December 2009 it made a profit of £7.4m on sales of nearly £38m.
Sources in the private equity community believe private equity firms and international trade buyers and institutional investors are all interested.