Charterhouse Capital Partners has acquired Deb Group, a maker of skin safety products, from Barclays Private Equity for £325 million.

Charterhouse Capital Partners has acquired Deb Group, a maker of skin safety products, from Barclays Private Equity for £325 million.

Derbyshire-based Deb Group supplies a range of skincare products for industrial and healthcare applications and operates in 16 countries.

Barclays Private Equity bought a 55 per cent stake in the business in March 2004 for £135 million, and increased the stake to 75 per cent after a refinancing in 2006. The deal represents a return of 5.7 times the capital invested.

Charterhouse is financing half of its bid with equity and half with bank debt arranged by a group of lenders led by Lloyds Banking Group.

Deb Group has generated a 116 per cent increase in revenue over the past six years to £122 million. BPE director Rob Myers says: ‘[We have] aggressively grown the business by investing in its intellectual property, global workforce and manufacturing facilities.’