Catalyst advises on sale of family business

BIRMINGHAM’S firm Catalyst Corporate Finance has advised the shareholders of manufacturer FT Morrell on the sale of the business to US-based RPM International.

Stockport and Nottingham-based Morrells is the UK’s largest manufacturer and distributor of high performance industrial wood finishes and application equipment.

Founded in 1902, four generations of the Morrell family had worked in the business.

Morrells has a manufacturing facility in Stockport and distributes from a centre in Nottingham direct to customers and to its own network of trade counters in the UK and Ireland.  

RPM owns subsidiaries that manufacture and market high-performance coatings, sealants and specialty chemicals, primarily for maintenance and improvement applications. It employs more than 12,000 people worldwide and operates 94 manufacturing facilities in 24 countries.

Its products are sold in approximately 160 countries and territories.

Frank C. Sullivan, RPM chairman and chief executive officer, said: “With a strong management team, led by chief executives Scott Drayton and Tony O’Connor, who will stay on to run the business, a portfolio of advanced technologies and a customer-centric distribution strategy, Morrells is an excellent fit within our Wood Finishes Group.

“We intend to accelerate Morrells’ growth by leveraging its coatings technologies across the RPM network.”

RPM made an unsolicited approached to Morrells which prompted the family to conclude it was an appropriate time to consider a sale. It appointed Catalyst to advise them through the sale process.

Richard Sanders, partner at Catalyst, who led the deal supported by director Jeremy Harrison, said:  “This deal represents another successful example of our experience selling family businesses, working in the industrial sector and undertaking cross border M&A with US trade acquirers. 

“Achieving this outcome for business with a fragmented shareholder base, relatively complex tax, structuring and environmental matters was a particularly rewarding aspect to this transaction.”