Rutland to buy Pulse Home Products

Private equity firm Rutland Partners is to buy Pulse Home Products, a domestic goods company, in a multi-million pound cash deal.


Private equity firm Rutland Partners is to buy Pulse Home Products, a domestic goods company, in a multi-million pound cash deal.

Private equity firm Rutland Partners is to buy Pulse Home Products, a domestic goods company, in a multi-million pound cash deal.

The firm has agreed to buy Pulse, which lists Breville, Nicky Clarke, Bush, Dirt Devil and Hinari among its brands, for £51.1 million.

Rutland is investing some £25 million in the deal from its second fund, Rutland Fund II. The balance is to be funded through debt provided by CIT Capital Finance.

With Rutland’s backing, Pulse’s management, which is led by chief executive David Allen, plan to grow the company. They will use additional finances to be provided by the fund to improve the performance of its brands.

Allen said he is excited by the potential of the company that this deal will bring. “We are looking forward to working with Rutland who we see as an ideal funder for this type of situation and, undoubtedly, will be a valuable contributor to the future plans for the business.”

Rutland’s investment was co-ordinated by Mike Harris, Ben Slatter, Nick Morrill and Dan Freed. Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Harris and Slatter will join Pulse’s board.

The company is being sold by consumer goods group Alba plc, which has owned the business for the past six years. The group will use the proceeds of the disposal to reduce its debt.

Completion is conditional upon the approval of Alba’s shareholders at an emergency general meeting on August 22.

Alba estimates that Pulse is on course to generate ebitda of some £9.4 million from sales of £118 million.

Marc Barber

Marc Barber

Marc was editor of GrowthBusiness from 2006 to 2010. He specialised in writing about entrepreneurs, private equity and venture capital, mid-market M&A, small caps and high-growth businesses.

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