Catalyst advises HomeServe on MBO

CATALYST Corporate Finance has advised Walsall based home emergency and repair business HomeServe on the sale of its Retail Warranties Group to a management buy-out.

The warranties group, now known as Castelan, is a leading supplier of furniture and electrical warranties to many of the UK’s leading manufacturers and retailers.

Castelan provides a warranty service, claims management and repairs service, utilising its directly employed network of technicians.

Martin Napper, the managing director of Castelan, led the management buy-out.

HomeServe initially appointed Catalyst to strategically review its Retail Warranties Group and assess the potential exit routes for the business. Catalyst then marketed the warranties group to potential trade buyers and management in a parallel process and ultimately the management buy-out option was considered to be the most favourable to HomeServe.

Catalyst then led the negotiations on the sale and supported HomeServe on the complex HR, IT and underwriting discussions to extract the business from the plc, which included a transitional services agreement.

Martin Bennett, chief financial officer at HomeServe, said: “This was a complex deal to negotiate and separate from HomeServe and Catalyst’s innovative deal structure and project management skills in a challenging M&A environment helped drive the deal to completion.”