Endless backs Crown Paints buyout deal
ONE of Britain’s best known paint brands, Crown, has been bought in a management buyout backed by Yorkshire investment fund Endless.
The deal for an undisclosed sum, but thought to be less than the £70m figure reports had suggested, sees Leeds-based buyout and turnaround fund Endless fund the MBO of Crown Paints which has its head office in Darwen, Lancashire, from Dutch group Akzo Nobel.
Chief executive Howard Luft, finance director Eric Mulholland and retail director Joe Devitt lead the deal for Crown, which employs 1,500 people and has factories in Darwen and Hull and has turnover of £180m a year.
They will be joined on the board by Warwick Ley, managing director of Endless and a new chairman, Graham Hallworth, who was involved in the management buy-in at Homestyle.
Neil Baishnab, Indra Valeinis and Simon Mason of Endless worked on the deal and were advised by a team from Deloitte including Andy Westbrook, Paul Trickett, Matt Widdall and Steve Pringle. DLA Piper lawyers Paul Rimmer and Jonathan Watkins acted as lead legal advisors for Endless while Austin Judson of Leeds law firm Walker Morris provided property legal advice and Hill Dickinson acted for management.
Crown Paints, which has a history stretching back almost 200 years, has trade and retail brands including Sadolin, Sandtex, Macpherson and Berger. It employs 205 people at its Hull factory and warehouse depots in Warrington, Dublin and Belfast and a network of 126 Crown Decorator Centres across the UK and Ireland.
Once the sponsor of Liverpool FC’s shirts in the 1980s, it has recently signed a deal to have its logo on Premier League Blackburn Rovers’ shirts.
The European Competition Commission forced Azko to sell Crown following its acquisition of Dulux-owner ICI this year for £8bn which gave it more than half of the UK paint market.
Graham Hallworth, said: “This is a very exciting time for everyone in the business as we return to independence. Crown is an extremely strong brand that is experiencing sales growth and it is essential that we remain competitive in current trading conditions.
“The robust funding structure we have put in place, supported by the significant level of investment from Endless, puts us in a strong position to increase sales further and take advantage of market opportunities. The team at Endless has a great track record of assisting management teams in strategic business growth. Therefore, we are pleased to be able to involve them in the future of Crown.”
Warwick Ley, added: “Although market conditions are tough, we believe Crown is a brand well positioned for resurgence as evidenced by its recent growth in market share and feedback from key customers. This will be supported by a significant level of investment behind the business.”
Garry Wilson, managing partner of Endless, commented: “This is a landmark deal for Endless and demonstrates our ability to deliver certainty to vendors in complex and large situations. Alongside the Crown acquisition, we have considerable experience in acquiring non-core assets from large corporates and we continue to see this as a key area of investment for us in the future.”
Commenting on the deal, Andy Westbrook, corporate finance partner at Deloitte, said: “This was one of the most complex transactions seen in the market for some time. We have worked with the team at Endless on a number of investments in the past and in identifying Crown Paints as a target, Endless has bought into a business that has strong development potential.”
