Vehicle recovery group Mansfield acquired in multi-million deal
STOKE-ON-TRENT-based vehicle rescue and recovery operator, The Mansfield Group, has been acquired by South African logistics group Bidvest in a multi-million pound deal.
Founded in 1978, The Mansfield Group provides full vehicle rescue and recovery services to customers including major motoring organisations, police forces, councils and government agencies. The company operates across the north of England and West Midlands.
Bidvest already owns Ontime Automotive Group, a leading provider of automotive services, which predominately focuses on the south of England. As part of the deal, the Parking Services and Rescue and Recovery divisions of Ontime Automotive Group will be combined with The Mansfield Group, forming a £40m turnover business.
The remainder of the Ontime Automotive operations, including Global Automotive Transport Services and its Service Centres, will be unaffected by the combination with the Mansfield Group.
Mansfield founders Darrell and Joanne Mansfield, who will retain a minority stake and remain in place in the newly enlarged business, said: “We are both extremely excited to be taking The Mansfield Group to the next level with Bidvest. Looking forward, we are confident that we will continue to deliver strong financial growth whilst maintaining excellent levels of service for our customers.”
The value of the deal has not been disclosed but the new structure will see The Mansfield Group strengthen its geographical reach across the UK, building on substantial growth achieved over the past three years.
Grant Thornton’s Manchester corporate finance team advised the shareholders on the transaction with a project team that included Ali Sharifi, Charlotte Ashton and Anthony Yu.
Ali Sharifi said: “Mansfield has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years and represented a very attractive proposition. The deal with Bidvest will allow the company to benefit from geographical synergies, which were a big part of the business case for this transaction. There has been some consolidation in the vehicle rescue and recovery market and we expect to see more.”
A team lead by corporate and commercial partner Kirsti Pinnell, including corporate associate Jamie Partridge and commercial property solicitor Parvinder Sohal, from Manchester law firm Kuits Solicitors advised The Mansfield Group on the sale of the business and the associated structuring positions along with new leases for the properties.
Darrell Mansfield won the Business Services category in the Midlands final of this year’s Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year awards.
