Brownhills Glass snaps up southern rival for £2.4m

WALSALL-based Brownhills Glass has acquired Crawley’s Tufwell Glass from Laidlaw Interiors Group for £2.4m.

Specialist SME investor Chelverton Asset Management raised £1.2m of equity from its high net Worth membership towards the transaction, investing alongside Brownhills Glass, with supporting debt finance from Lloyds Bank and Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance.

Tufwell, a market-leading and long-established glass processing business, supplies toughened, laminated and mirrored glass for contractors and end-users throughout London and the South East, with recent installations in the iconic Shard building and at the Olympic Park.

Chelverton suggest its strong performance has mirrored that of Brownhills Glass, which delivers a similar proposition to its largely Midlands-based customers, with “significant synergistic benefits” expected to derive from the alliance of the two businesses moving forward.

The deal was sourced by experienced corporate financier Steve Thornhill, working with his long-time client Brownhills Glass.  Laidlaw Interiors Group had appointed BDO to secure a sale of Tufwell, its non-core glass division.

Chelverton Asset Management investment director Richard Bucknell, who led the deal for Chelverton, and who will join the board of Tufwell, said: “We quickly built a rapport with Steve and the Brownhills team, and given the strong track record of the business, good prospects for an up-turn in the commercial construction sector, and the value-added that will come from the Brownhills alliance, we were able to gain support from our investors. 

“Tufwell is a great example of the type of business and deal that our members club is keen to support.”

Eversheds provided legal advice to the vendor while Roxburgh Milkins (legal) and PWC (financial due diligence and tax) advised Chelverton.

SGH Martineau provided legal advice for Lloyds while Brownhills Glass was advised by Res Ispa, Intelligent Corporate Finance and Smith Cooper.