£9m MBO takes up Spice’s facilities arm

UTILITY support services firm Spice has offloaded its Facilities Services Group arm in a £9m management buyout.

NBGI Private Equity has backed the deal which will see the existing team of managing director George Lilley and executive chairman David Simons continue to lead the firm.

The Birmingham offices of Olswang and DLA Piper were among the advisory teams.

Leeds-based Spice, formerly a stock market listed firm, was itself bought by private equity firm Cinven in a deal completed in December that valued the company at £251.1m.

Mr Simons said: “The continued growth in outsourced facilities management, the appeal of our service offering and our strong management team put is in an excellent position to grown and develop our business.

“This is an exciting time for FSG and we are delighted to have secured the financial backing and support of NBGI Private Equity. Their knowledge of our sector makes them a perfect partner for FSG going forward.”

NBGI has taken a majority stake in FSG and is investing further capital to expand the companies services.

Spice formed FSG through the acquisition and merger of Circle Britannia and Serviceline Nationwide, Breval Environmental and Breval Technical Services as well as Atlanta Facilities.

The Manchester offices of Grant Thornton and BDO Stoy Hayward, the Birmingham offices of Olswang and DLA Piper as well as CIL advised on the deal.

Ali Sharifi, a corporate finance partner at Grant Thornton in Manchester, said: “We congratulate David and his team on the completion of the MBO and wish them every success with this new chapter in FSG’s history.

“The company has a reputation for quality and responsiveness and is a premium player in its market.”