Tunstall sold for £514m
YORKSHIRE-BASED telecare business Tunstall has been bought for £514m by private equity firm Charterhouse Capital Partners.
The business, which is based in Whitley Bridge near Selby, was sold by Bridgepoint Capital which bought it in June 2005 from Hg Capital for £225m.
Tunstall will continue to be run by chief executive James Buckley and his management team following the deal.
Tunstall provides personal and home alarm systems used by people ranging from the elderly who want to live independently, to those suffering from dementia and domestic violence, and for incidents including floods, smoke and carbon monoxide.
When pressed the alarms send a signal to Tunstall's manned response centre which, in turn, alerts the emergency services.
The company, which employs around 650 people in the UK supports more than 2.5 million telecare users in more than 30 countries worldwide.
Bridgepoint is expected to make about 2.5 times its equity investment from the sale.
Bridgepoint is expected to reinvest in a stake of about 18%, giving it a seat on Tunstall's board. The management, led by Mr Buckley, which owns about 20%, is also reinvesting significantly.
Tunstall, which has expanded into Asia and continental Europe under Bridgepoint's ownership, is forecast to increase revenues from £103m in 2005 to £144m this year. Operating profit is expected to reach £38m, from £23m three years earlier.
Charterhouse was advised by David Forbes of NM Rothschild in Leeds. It is the fourth time Mr Forbes has been involved in a deal for the business having originally bought it for Mike Dawson then sold it to Hg Capital and acted in the deal when it was acquired by Bridgepoint.
Mr Forbes said: “Tunstall is truly a world leading business. It has become the name you think of when you talk about telecare.”
Charterhouse raised debt from Royal Bank of Scotland, which funded Bridgepoint's takeover three years ago and plans to syndicate some new debt to other investors.
It is Charterhouse's second deal this week, after it bought Giles Insurance Brokers, a Glasgow-based chain, from Gresham for an undisclosed amount.
