PE investor acquires vehicle accident management company
Elysian Capital III, a buyout fund managed by private equity firm Elysian Capital, has acquired Halifax-headquartered Activate Group Ltd and Activate Accident Repair Group Ltd.
This represents the seventh investment in the Elysian Capital III LP Fund, which closed in September 2020 at £325m.
Established in 2015, Activate provides accident management services to insurance groups and corporate fleet operators through its MRN and Sopp+Sopp brands.
It carries out the vehicle repairs either in-house through its own network of nine repair centres or externally through a network of third-party repair centres.
The business is led by Hannah Wilcox, who became CEO in 2018 having joined as CFO.
She said: “I’m incredibly proud of Activate Group’s success. Over the past eight years we’ve taken the business from a start-up with a handful of team members to a UK-wide operation with a 700-strong team.
“Elysian Capital has an outstanding track record of supporting fast-growing businesses like ours, and I’m confident their investment and support will allow us to take Activate Group to the next level and move faster in delivering our key strategic priorities.”
Mark Puttick, partner at Elysian Capital, added: “Since 2015, Activate has created a strong proposition in the claims and repair market and we are excited to be working with Hannah and the rest of the team to realise the business’s full potential through additional sites, enhanced technology and new services.”
Elysian Capital was advised by: Squire Patton Boggs (legal); 8Advisory (financial due diligence and tax); Oliver Wyman (commercial due diligence); Aon (Insurance); Ringstone (IT); CBRE (property) and Strategic Awareness (management due diligence).
Working Capital Facilities were provided by Barclays.
