Manufacturer completes strategic acquisition deal

Sheffield-headquartered Independent Forgings & Alloys (IFA) – an independent aerospace and industrial forger – has acquired Doncasters Precision Forgings (DPF), from Doncasters Group.

In March 2018, BGF, (Business Growth Fund) invested £8.5m in IFA. DPF was identified as a strategic acquisition opportunity as part of the business’ growth ambitions to reach £50m sales.

Operating from a 250,000 sq ft facility in Sheffield, IFA manufactures high-integrity, open-die forged components for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and tier-one suppliers within the aerospace, nuclear, power generation, marine and oil and gas sectors.

The deal will increase capacity threefold to 680,000 sq ft, as well as expanding the combined business’ capabilities.

For customers, this will create a one-stop-shop as the only Western forge with open-die, closed-die, ring-rolling, hammer forging and rotary forging located on a single site. IFA itself was acquired by the current management team from Doncasters Group in 2001.

Andy McGuinness, CEO at IFA, said: “This deal provides a number of strategic and operational benefits for IFA, which ideally positions us for further growth and cross-selling opportunities. By expanding our physical footprint with the DPF site, the additional capacity will give the business a boost from day one.”

Barry Jackson, an investor at BGF, added: “IFA continues to build on Sheffield’s forging heritage by innovating and identifying growth opportunities for the company. We’re pleased to be supporting a capable management team on this acquisition which further strengthens IFA’s position in the market as the go-to aerospace and industrial forger.”

Advisors to the transaction were a BHP Corporate Finance team led by Kevin Davies, David Forrest and Declan Savage (corporate finance and financial due diligence) and Mike Hall at Keebles LLP (legal).

Debt funding to support the transaction was provided by Matthew Chenery at Barclays.