NorthEdge Capital invests £25.5m in Fine Industries
NORTHEDGE Capital, the private equity firm based in Leeds and Manchester, has invested £25.5m in Fine Industries, a Teesside-based manufacturer of fine chemicals.
The investment is to accelerate the capital expenditure programme to increase capacity and support the company’s growth ambitions.
KPMG’s team in Leeds and Newcastle provided corporate finance and transaction services advice to NorthEdge during the deal.
Alex Hartley, director in KPMG’s corporate finance team in Leeds, said: “We are delighted to have been part of a team of local advisors who assisted NorthEdge with their investment in Fine Industries.
“This is a transaction which underlines the quality and strength of the businesses and management teams which are present in the North East and we continue to see increased interest from private equity firms in investing in the region.”
The deal was led by NorthEdge partner Ray Stenton, director James Hall and investment manager Tom Rowley. Ray Stenton and James Hall will be joining the board as non-executive directors.
Fine Industries manufactures high quality fine chemicals for use in the crop protection, pharmaceutical and specialty chemicals markets. Ray Stenton, partner at NorthEdge Capital, said: “Fine Industries is a high quality business that operates in a large and growing global market, with long-term fundamental drivers supporting continued growth. As a market leader the business enjoys strong relationships with its blue chip client base. We are looking forward to working with the management team to support their growth plan.”
PwC’s Paul Mankin advised Fine Industries. Legal advice was provided by Yunus Seedat of Addleshaw Goddard for NorthEdge and Nigel Williams of Bond Dickinson gave legal advice to Fine Industries. Debt facilities were provided by HSBC and Yorkshire Bank.
The deal is the fourth transaction by NorthEdge from its maiden fund, which closed at £225m in March this year. It follows investments into FPE Global, the high-growth specialist engineering firm, in February, Jigsaw24, the Apple and creative IT solutions provider, and Help-Link, the boiler and central heating installation specialist, in April.
