Grove Industries-backed acquisition is Deal of the Month
OUR Deal of the Month for June is the recent acquisition of public transport infrastructure group Trueform Engineering.
GIL Investments, an associate of West Midlands industrial conglomerate Grove Industries, led and backed the transaction – its first such deal since the untimely death of the firm’s founder David Grove.
Trueform – which designs, manufactures and installs passenger shelters and digital information systems – was acquired by a consortium of private shareholders for an undisclosed sum. The firm has annual sales of £20m and employs more than 180 people, mostly at Hayes, Middlesex and Newcastle upon Tyne.
The firm is a major supplier to Transport for London (TfL) but has a large number of other customers in the UK and overseas including The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (Centro).
Grove Industries, which is based in Stratford-on-Avon, has a track record spanning more than two decades for investing in and improving businesses.
Mike Gillett, managing director of another Grove Industries business, Covpress Holdings, has been appointed chairman of Trueform while Jonathan Morley, previously Trueform’s business development director, has been promoted to group managing director.
Richard Banham, investment director at GIL Investments, described Trueform as a progressive, leading edge manufacturing organisation.
“The business operates in a rapidly growing, sustainable and profitable business sector which is flying the flag for British design and manufacturing on an international scale,” he said.
Grove Industries was supported in the transaction by Gateley (legal advice) and RSM Tenon (financials). Centric Commercial Finance provided finance for the deal.
Explaining why this transaction was chosen as Deal of the Month, TheBusinessDesk.com editor Andy Coyne said: “It’s great to see that there is still an appetite at Grove Industries for getting involved in deals of this kind and the fact it is the first acquisition it has been involved in since David Grove died gives it a special significance.
“It is also greatly encouraging to see locally-based advisers and funders at the heart of the deal even though Trueform itself is based outside our region.”
