London investment firm lights up growth plans with acquisition of Worcester distributor
London-based investment firm RDCP Group has acquired Worcester Electrical Distributors, one of the UK’s largest independent electrical wholesalers, for an undisclosed sum.
Headquartered in Worcester, the firm was established in 1987 by Neville Butler and Bob Rushton and today employs 80 staff, with an annual turnover of £24m and an average annual revenue growth rate of 20%.
Worcester Electrical operates from six branches offering more than 18,000 stocked items and is a stockist for leading automation products from ABB, Telemecanique and Weidmuller.
It is also now a major stockist of EV Chargers for home and business.
The firm’s branches are located down the M5 corridor, servicing the Birmingham area, through Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and into the South Wales valleys.
The existing management team will be led by newly appointed managing director Paul Clunn, and operations director Michelle Troth, who will work with RDCP founders Sameer Rizvi and Iryna Dubylovska, on Worcester Electrical’s future growth strategy.
This latest deal forms part of RDCP Group’s buy-and-build strategy and vision to build the UK’s largest private company with a dominant presence in a variety of industries. RDCP now controls $450m of investments across multiple sectors and employs 1,900 staff members in the UK.
Rizvi said: “Worcester Electrical Distributors is a well-established business boasting 6 branches, over 18,000 product lines and a diversified base of over 1,600 customers. We were impressed by the strong reputation that Worcester Electrical Distributor holds, the strength of the existing management team and its range of products and services. Incoming Managing Director Paul Clunn has excellent credentials, with over 25 years’ experience working in senior leadership roles for blue chip companies in the electrical products sector. His expertise will be invaluable as we look to accelerate the firm’s future growth and capitalise on new opportunities to be an even stronger partner for its customers.”
Clunn added: “We look forward to this next chapter, working with Sameer and Iryna to increase Worcester Electrical’s value over time. Together we form a strong team to take the business to the next stage in its journey and continue to deliver and build on the extensive and quality range of products and services available to our customers.”
Rob Wilson, corporate finance director at Dains, said: “Neville and Bob have built a very successful business over the past 35 years, and decided to talk to Dains about retirement plans, and building a strategy to protect the legacy of Worcester Electrical. Their goal was to realise the value that they had created to date and to ensure that the business was left in the hands of a buyer who would continue to further develop the business.
”We worked closely with Neville and Bob to develop their exit plan, and as part of this process spent a considerable amount of time identifying an appropriate purchaser. Having received strong interest in the business from both trade and financial investors alike, we were attracted to RDCP as a buyer for a number of reasons. RDCP’s model of being longer-term investors in businesses, backing strong incumbent management teams and retaining the stability and culture that is embedded within a business made them stand out from the more traditional private equity model, and we quickly realised the benefits of choosing RDCP as the long-term investor in Worcester Electrical.
”I am delighted with the outcome we have achieved for Bob and Neville, which allows both to work towards retirement, confident that Worcester Electrical will benefit from new stewardship under Paul, Michelle, and RDCP. ”
