Apollo Group, a provider of property services in the south of England, has been bought in a secondary buy-out.
Apollo Group, a provider of property services in the south of England, has been bought in a secondary buy-out.
The deal was led by chief executive Gary Couch, who was supported by a debt and equity package from Bank of Scotland Corporate.
Lloyds Development Capital (LDC) has sold its minority stake in Apollo, which it has held since it backed the original buy-out in 2006.
Bank of Scotland’s investment was structured by Robin Winning, Ben Barker, Sam Brameld and Daniel Cavanagh.
The buy-out team has also invested in the deal as have a large number of the company’s employees. Management and employees now hold a 79.5% shareholding. Bank of Scotland holds the balance.
Couch said: “The new structure and the expanded shareholding will provide significant benefits to our customers and our staff. We have had an excellent relationship with LDC and we look forward to continuing success with Bank of Scotland.”
Bank of Scotland asked Whitehead Mann to carry out a management due diligence review, while PMSI handled the vendor commercial due diligence report.
Whitehead Mann’s project was led by Carol House, a partner in the firm’s private equity practice and its head of due diligence.
House said the firm was well placed to assess the performance and reputation of three key and long-serving members of Apollo’s management.
“Using an in-depth structured competency interview conducted by a senior partner within our industry practice, Joanna Martin, who had specific knowledge of the sector as well as some psychometrics, we were able to gather detailed information on the team, which provided Bank of Scotland with the qualitative data they required.
“The exercise highlighted that Apollo’s team enjoys credibility in the sector, is highly capable and has the energy and enthusiasm to take this exciting business into a successful new phase,” she added.
PMSI’s team was led by David Crout, who said: “We have worked extensively in the social housing sector, but there are few (if any) other companies in the sector that combine the scale, growth, and profitability of Apollo.
“Gary and his team have created a distinctive and scalable business model, and it has been a pleasure to work with them since we conducted the commercial due diligence on the original MBO 18 months ago,” he added.
Apollo’s projects include social housing regeneration, property maintenance and the improvement and construction of new education facilities.
The Essex-based company specialises in providing a range of internal and external refurbishment services to local authorities and housing associations, primarily in the southeast.
