A toothpaste tube manufacturer that lists Colgate Palmolive, GlaxoSmithKline, Unilever and Procter & Gamble among its clients has been bought by its management for the second time.
A toothpaste tube manufacturer that lists Colgate Palmolive, GlaxoSmithKline, Unilever and Procter & Gamble among its clients has been bought by its management for the second time.
The buy-in management buy-out of Betts Global followed private equity firm Permira, Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of Scotland deciding to exit the business nine years after backing the original £82 million buy-out.
This latest deal was supported by a funding package of more than £110 million, provided by Gresham Private Equity and CIT Capital Finance UK.
The package not only covers the buy-out costs, but also provides funding to develop the business by expanding its operations into new markets.
Gresham partner Christian Bruning said: “Betts’ management team has a real focus on customer service, quality and innovation. With the additional investnmet we are bringing, the business is well positioned to support its customers and capitalise on future growth opportunities.”
Gresham’s investment was co-ordinated by Bruning, Alastair Mills and Dan Hatcher from its London office. Bruning joins Betts’ board with Gresham’s portfolio director James Barbour-Smith.
Also joining the board is Paul Bateman, formerly Alliance Boots’ group operations director, who becomes chairman.
Bateman said the business is poised for growth. “The support and financial firepower of Gresham will enable us to invest in our manufacturing operations and undertake further expansion.”
This is the fourth deal CIT has arranged and underwritten since the end of June and was led by senior director Chris Jackson, who was supported by director Ian Burgess and associated director Wayne Frank.
CIT’s European senior managing director, Graham Randell, said the firm’s support for this deal shows its commitment to mid-market deals despite recent uncertainty. “We are confident that, with Gresham’s support, Betts will be able to undertake further expansion and increase top line growth.”
Gresham approached URS Corporation to advise on the environmental issues of the deal, which included providing a due diligence review of the target business.
Its team was led by Andreas King and Robert Wade, senior consultants in its M&A Transactions team in Wimbledon.
The team had to assess Betts’ environmental responsibilities concerning its activities on its clients’ sites.
“As a typical multi-site, cross-border deal, URS’s European M&A team was quickly brought into play across the various geographies,” King said. “This understanding of local environmental legislation enabled the firm to complete the work within a tight timeline.
“Quite simply, this is good deal for Gresham and we wish it well in taking Betts to the next level,” he added.
Betts has been manufacturing packaging products for more than 150 years. Today it has some 1,300 employees working from 14 sites in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, UK and the US.
