£300m sale of Clarke Energy completes
A deal which has seen Clarke Energy, the Merseyside-based distributed specialist, sold to US company Kohler Power Group for £300m has been finalised.
As reported by TheBusinessDesk in early December, the company which employs 1,100 at its Knowsley headquarters, was targeted by Kohler, a private family-owned manufacturing business, based in Wisconsin.
Founded in 1873, Kohler is one of the oldest and largest private companies in the States.
The deal provides an exit private equity specialist ECI Partners which invested in Clarke Energy in 2012.
Clarke Energy which has bases in 17 countries, installs and maintains gas and diesel-fuelled power plants.
It made record revenues of £233m in the year to October 2015, with a pre-tax loss of £6.3m.
The deal, led by Jonathan Boyers of KPMG, marks an exit for private equity firm ECI, which invested more than £100m for a 30% stake in the business four years ago.
Founder Jim Clarke, who set up the business in 1989, selling spare engine parts, is understood to have made around £150m from the deal.
His son Jamie Clarke runs the business and is expected to stay on under the new ownership.
Investment firm 3i bought a small stake to fund overseas expansion in 1999, selling out to Clarke in 2010, before ECI took its minority stake in 2012.
