Take This! New York listing for $1.58 billion valued CorpAcq
An American investment vehicle is to acquire North West investment business CorpAcq and list on the New York Stock Exchange.
The deal is expected to raise additional funds for Altrincham headquartered CorpAcq, founded by Sale Sharks Rugby Club owner Simon Orange, the brother of Take That singer Jason Orange.
A new influx of capital will “optimise” CorpAcq’s balance sheet and fund more acquisitions with a $592m war chest from the fundraising of Churchill VII’s, a special purpose investment vehicle set up as a trust account by New York corporate financier Michael Klein.
Since it was formed in 2006 CorpAcq has grown revenue at an annual rate of 16% and claims adjusted EBITDA of 17% over the last 4 years including average organic revenue growth of 4% and subsidiary-level profit growth of 7%, respectively.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Nova Capital invested in CorpAcq in 2022.
The deal implies an initial enterprise value of approximately $1.58 billion on a portfolio that consists of 41 businesses including Cotton Traders, Aintree Plastics and Metcalfe Plat Hire.
Simon Orange, Chairman and Founder of CorpAcq, said, “Today is an exciting milestone in CorpAcq’s history and validation of our team, our tremendous growth and our approach of partnering closely with and empowering portfolio companies to drive long-term performance. We are thrilled to partner with Churchill VII. With their team’s deep M&A and capital markets expertise, track record of value-added investing in companies as well as an extensive relationship network, we are confident that Churchill VII is the right partner to propel CorpAcq’s next phase of growth. As a public company, we believe CorpAcq will be better positioned to accelerate organic growth, expand our acquisition pipeline deeper in the UK and deliver compounding returns to shareholders, all while staying true to our ethos of fostering autonomy at our portfolio companies and investing over a long time horizon.”
Michael Klein, Chairman and CEO of Churchill VII, said, “When we launched Churchill VII, we wanted to identify a profitable, cash flow generating partner with strong management, a highly differentiated business model and clear growth opportunities. We believe CorpAcq fits all our criteria and more with its proven acquisition and operating strategy, established positioning in the UK SME space, track record of topline growth and profitability and talented management team. With its meaningful financial returns, current industry positioning, substantial cash flow to support dividends and upside potential to accelerate its acquisition pace in new markets, we believe the Company is a highly attractive opportunity for shareholders. We look forward to working with Simon and the rest of CorpAcq’s management team as we position this business for future success.”
CorpAcq Founder and Chairman Simon Orange will continue to lead the Company, along with Chief Executive Officer David Martin and the rest of CorpAcq’s seasoned leadership team.
From 2018 to 2022, CorpAcq reported a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for revenue of 16%, with average organic growth outpacing the UK GDP, and an adjusted EBITDA2 CAGR of 17% during the same period.
CorpAcq exited 2022 at a run-rate of $850 million revenue and adjusted EBITDA of $133 million3 and has added an additional $80 million of revenue and $12 million of profit from acquisitions.
