PE firm acquires stake in modular builder

East Yorkshire-based building manufacturer, Premier Modular Group, has attracted a new investor.

MML Capital Partners has taken an equal majority shareholding with the incumbent, Cabot Square Capital, with a minority shareholding continuing to be held by Premier Modular’s leadership team.

Premier says this put it in “prime position” to accelerate growth even faster and to reinforce its service provision.

Premier Modular, which was established in the 1950s, provides modular rental, leasing and permanent buildings.

It delivers space to many sectors across the UK and northern Europe including: hospitals, schools, life science, justice, defence, laboratories, welfare buildings, offices, data centres, retail and other commercial applications.

In the last four years alone, the company’s rental fleet has expanded by 50% and this new investment by MML will fuel Premier Modular’s ambitions to make its facilities more widely available in its domestic and European markets.

Andrew Honan, managing partner (infrastructure) at MML, said: “Premier Modular is already a well-run company, as seen in the great performance in recent years.

“But it’s Premier Modular’s long-term growth that we are really excited about.

“Fundamentally, we are seeing a big societal change in how we build our infrastructure in the UK and globally – a focus on being closer to the user and dealing with shorter term changes in societal needs.

“In that context, Premier is at the vanguard of enabling this change in sustainable and affordable ways.”

Keith Maddin, partner, Cabot Square Capital said: “Premier is a highly successful business and has built a first-class track record of providing sustainable infrastructure solutions.

“Working with the Premier Modular team for two years now, it’s their culture of delivering excellence in tight timeframes which keeps them competitive.

“That’s playing its part in the company’s expansion both at home and in Europe with the launch of Premier Modular BV.

“We look forward to continuing to be involved in the next stage of its growth alongside management and MML Capital Partners.”

David Harris, Premier Modular Group’s CEO, added: “One of the reasons why we’re able to continue our strong growth is because we anticipated the skilled trades market tightening, so we invested in our apprenticeship and training programmes.

“Many people prefer to invest in their skills with the long-term prospect of working close-to-home rather than away on building sites.

“MML’s investment means we now continue to grow our best-in-class fleet, expand the range of funding structures we offer our clients, and accelerate our expansion into Europe following client demand.

“The combination of financial firepower and infrastructure expertise will be invaluable as we continue to drive Premier forward.”