Distributor makes first acquisition following £15.5m investment
Distributor Troy UK has made its first acquisition following a £15.5m investment.
As reported on TheBusinessDesk.com the Exeter firm secured a £15.5m investment from BGF to fund its acquisitive growth strategy.
Its first acquisition is a Northern Ireland business E.A. Martin & Son Ltd.
E.A. Martin & Son Ltd is a family business founded and based in Kilrea which has been successfully providing hand tools and equipment to electrical, builders’, agricultural, plumbing merchants and hardware traders locally throughout ROI and NI for three generations
Troy chief executive Paul Kilbride; “E.A Martin & Son is a business that shares common core values with our Group and offers a great fit in line with our growth strategy.
“As part of the Troy Group it further supports our investment in the Northern Ireland based MOL Tools and Abrasives Ltd in 2021. The pairing significantly increases the group’s wholesale offering, allowing us to strengthen our position in the marketplace and further support our membership.”
Chris Taylor, chief operating officer of Troy said: “As a group we continue to see large volumes of organic and acquisitional growth over recent years
“E.A. Martin & Son is the first investment opportunity that has been realised since the BGF’s significant £15.5million investment into the Troy Group. With the addition of E.A Martin & son, our wholesale offering has been enhanced allowing us to further serve our customers across multiple sectors, and their changing buying requirements”.
The Troy Group has invested in 17 businesses throughout the UK over the last five years, serving a wide and diverse customer base across many sectors, providing broad-line industrial consumables and PPE, Precision Cutting Tools and state of the art VMI and supply chain management solutions.
Lyle Pyper, Managing Director of E.A. Martin & Son Ltd said: “We chose Troy because it has a firm foundation, built on family values, committed, and focused on supporting each customer in the growth of their business.
“Being part of the Troy Group, E.A. Martin & Son Ltd can evolve to meet future demands through continuous improvement and development aligned to the brands represented and the customers we are so privileged to supply”.
Financial advisors to this deal were Dains (Rob Wilson) with legal advice from Gateley Legal (Mark Rutherford, Sophie Cahalin).
Troy’s chief executive Paul Kilbride acquired the business in 2010 and it now has annual sales of more than £300m.
Troy is an independent maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) product distributor based in Exeter.
It provides access to more than 420 suppliers of leading industry brands via its distribution centres and buying group of 400-plus members.
The family-run business was founded in 1986 and has grown to be the UK’s largest independent network for industrial and engineering supplies.
BGF’s investment was led by James Skade and Hannah Waters.
