Wolstenholme hits deal trail for Primary
THE Manchester office of private equity firm Primary Capital Partners, and its North West advisers, headed North of the Border to make its maiden investment.
Primary Capital Partners has bought a majority stake in MSIS, a fast-growing specialist environmental services and equipment provider in a £20m deal.
The investment from Primary will help MSIS fast-track its growth plans by extending its service offering to capture a larger share of the North Sea market and further develop its presence in selected international offshore markets.
The deal sees a profitable exit for Maven Capital Partners, which invested an initial £2.5m in MSIS in 2007. Chief executive, Chris Lloyd and managing director, Ian McPherson will remain to lead the management team who will own 30% of the business.
Based in Invergordon and Aberdeen, MSIS has 80 employees and works in the offshore oil and gas sector and onshore industrial sectors.
Iain Wolstenholme, Primary’s Manchester-based partner, who led the investment, said: “We are delighted to back an exceptional management team led by Chris Lloyd to deliver a strategic plan of organic growth, acquisitions and international expansion. MSIS is a market leading, niche service provider to operators in the UKCS and overseas, and has numerous growth opportunities.”
Primary Capital was advised by Pinsent Masons (Andy Phillips), Calash (Iain Gallow), Dow Schofield Watts (Cat Lang and Ed Brentnall) and PwC (Stephen Woodhouse).
