Manufacturer makes acquisition to create £80m turnover group

Warwickshire-based engineering specialist Ricor Global announced a major acquisition which will create an £80m plus turnover group with seven factories across the UK, Poland and Slovakia.

Ricor has swooped for Walsall Pressings Company and D.R.B. Engineering (Walpres) which it says represents a “transformational opportunity” for it to enhance its product capabilities and OEM customer base while being able to utilise its international platform at the heart of the European automotive hub to service these global customers.

Walpres specialises in the manufacture of automotive body structure pressings and assemblies for automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.

The acquisition represents the accelerated growth envisaged following the shareholder reorganisation led by David Johanson in April 2018.

HSBC and Tosca supported the shareholder reorganisation and both funders have assisted Ricor to support this latest transaction.

Ricor executive chairman David Johanson said: “This is an important strategic acquisition which allows us to become a direct Tier one supplier to a couple of key customers. The synergy between Ricor and Walpres is one of the major factors for this purchase.

“Walpres will enhance our current capability in the sub 400 tonne body structure pressing market and Walpres now has access to Ricor’s capability to make complex multi-piece welded assemblies and stamping capabilities up to 1000t on progression & transfer. This acquisition will combine this capability with our global platform to enhance our customer offering.

“I also would like to acknowledge Paul Woolley for his outstanding work in building Walpres into the business that it is today. Paul will continue to support the business to ensure a smooth transition.”

PwC Midlands corporate finance team acted as lead advisor and provided debt advisory support, led by Tom Copeland with support from David Isaacs and the debt advisory team was led by Sajjad Hassam with support from Michael Potter.

Copeland said: “We are delighted to have acted for Ricor on this significant transaction. Despite automotive headwinds, this transaction demonstrates the continued strong appetite for Midlands based businesses to invest in strategic assets and we expect to see additional M&A to drive supply chain consolidation.

“I expect Ricor to continue to grow both organically and through additional strategic acquisitions.”

Close