Sovereign backs MBO of UK energy broker
Sovereign Capital Partners, the UK private equity buy & build specialist, has announced the management buy-out of Utility Bidder, an energy broker offering energy procurement services to UK, SME customers.
This is the second MBO Sovereign has backed in recent months and follows that of Asset Control, the financial data management business.
Sovereign has partnered with the management team of Utility Bidder to further develop the business through a strategy of organic and acquisitive growth.
Founded in 2009, and headquartered in Corby, the business employs more than 100 staff and has a growing sales office in Manchester.
The company currently brokers energy and other utilities contracts to more than 14,500 SME clients across a number of industry sectors in the UK.
Utility Bidder has performed strongly, growing sales by more than 40% in the current year.
Sovereign will work with the management team to support the growth strategy in what is an exciting market.
The team is led by an experienced chief executive, Chris Shaw. Sovereign has augmented the management team with the appointment of Mark Wood, formerly chief executive of Axa UK, as non-executive chairman.
Founders James Longley and Sally Martin remain with the business, James as Utility Bidder’s managing director.
“We are delighted to have Sovereign’s backing.” said Chris Shaw.
“We operate in an exciting market with great opportunities. Sovereign has a tremendous track record of backing high-quality growth businesses that have the potential to significantly scale-up.
“We look forward to further developing our product offering and growing our client base with Sovereign’s investment and partnership.”
Jeremy Morgan, partner at Sovereign, said: “We are very pleased to be supporting this business and strong management team in what is a burgeoning market.
“Utility Bidder has already achieved tremendous success and enjoys established relationships with both its SME customer base and its energy suppliers.
“We look forward to working with Chris and the team to help take this top ranked energy broker to the next stage of growth.”
