Catalyst advises support services MBO

BIRMINGHAM-based Catalyst Corporate Finance has successfully acted as lead advisor on the management buy-out of charity support firm Valldata.  

ISIS Equity Partners has provided funding for the buy-out, investing £6.5m from the Baronsmead Venture Capital Trust.

Wiltshire based Valldata is the UK’s leading provider of outsourced donation processing and fulfilment services for the UK not-for-profit market.  It uses its advanced technology and IT systems to handle large volumes of transactions covering paper-based donations, donations via telephone and on-line services.

Valldata is a partner for charities, helping them manage and deliver fund-raising campaigns and it provides outsourced services to over 50 of the largest UK charities including assisting the Disaster Emergency Committee alongside BT in handling high volume emergency campaigns.

Every year, Valldata manages more than eight million interactions with donors.  It processes over £100m of donated funds and manages the database updates for its customers and donors.  More recently, Valldata has introduced the capability to handle integrated telephone and content managed on-line campaigns that are increasingly being used by its customers.  

Catalyst was appointed to undertake a review of the business and, having developed a detailed understanding of the objectives of the respective shareholders, presented a proposed MBO structure which met all the key shareholder objectives.

“The new shareholder and funding structure will allow the management team to accelerate their strategic vision of delivering an integrated fundraising services led business for the UK charity sector,” said partner Steve Currie, who led the deal.

Valldata chief executive Hamish Horton said of the deal: “This is an exciting time for the business. The need for the sector to continually focus on reducing administration costs combined with the market dynamics of a fragmented supply chain will enable Valldata to build a first class group through continued organic and acquisitive growth, underpinned by technology led product development and solutions.”