TIDMCLDN
RNS Number : 9042W
Caledonia Investments PLC
20 April 2023
CALEDONIA INVESTMENTS ACQUIRES AIR-SERV EUROPE
Caledonia Investments plc ("Caledonia") is pleased to announce
that it has acquired a majority stake in the European division of
AIR-serv, comprised of Airvending Limited and AIR-serv Netherlands
B.V. (together "AIR-serv Europe" or the "Business").
Headquartered in Wigan, Lancashire, AIR-serv Europe is a leading
designer and manufacturer of air, vacuum and jet wash machines
which it provides as turn-key solutions to fuel station forecourt
operators across Western Europe.
The Business has over 200 employees, operates from nine offices,
and serves c.2,500 customers with c.20,000 machines installed
across more than 15,000 customer locations in the UK and Ireland,
the Benelux, France, Germany and Spain.
Founded in 1984, AIR-serv Europe has developed a respected brand
which represents product innovation and exceptional customer
service. Clive Steel became AIR-serv Europe's CEO in 2022 having
led Business' operations in the UK and Ireland since 2012.
AIR-serv Europe has operated as an independent division of US
based CSC ServiceWorks ("CSC") since CSC acquired the Business,
alongside the North-American AIR-serv operations in 2013.
Caledonia has subscribed GBP142.5m for a 99.8% equity stake in
the Business alongside an investment from the management team of
c.GBP0.5m for the remaining equity. T he balance of the purchase
price will be financed from bank debt facilities totalling
GBP60.0m.
The acquisition underlines Caledonia's strategy of investing in
quality, robust, well-established private companies, with proven
management teams, and seeking long-term growth.
Commenting on the acquisition, Tom Leader, Caledonia's Head of
Private Capital, said:
"We are proud to have become the new owners of AIR-serv Europe
and to partner with Clive Steel and his team in the next stage of
the company's development. The strength and consistency of AIR-serv
Europe's profitability, cash generation and market position are an
ideal fit with our Private Capital investment strategy. We believe
there are exciting opportunities to build further on the Business'
excellent record and to expand its European presence."
Clive Steel, AIR-serv's CEO, commented:
"I am delighted to welcome Caledonia as AIR-serv Europe's new
equity sponsor. With Caledonia's financial support, flexibility and
long-term investment horizon, I am confident that we can build on
the Business' reputation for product quality, technical capability
and customer service to take advantage of the significant growth
potential in our chosen markets."
Eric Robinson, CEO of CSC, said:
"As owners of AIR-serv Europe for the last decade, our goal was
to find a buyer that would be committed to the long-term
development of the Business. We are therefore delighted to pass
stewardship of the company on to Caledonia; with backing from the
Cayzer family and a reputation as a long-term, supportive investor,
I wish Caledonia, along with Clive Steel and his team, every
success in the future."
20 April 2023
For further information contact:
Company contacts
Caledonia Investments
plc +44 20 7802 8080
Mat Masters
Chief Executive Officer
Tim Livett
Chief Financial Officer
Tom Leader
Head of Private Capital
Media contacts
Teneo +44 20 7353 4200
Tom Murray
Robert Yates
caledonia@teneo.com
This announcement contains inside information in relation to
Caledonia.
END
Notes for editors:
Caledonia Investments plc
Caledonia is a self-managed investment trust company listed on
the London Stock Exchange with net assets of approximately GBP2.8bn
as at 31 March 2023. The company maintains a concentrated portfolio
of international quoted, unquoted and fund investments and has paid
an increasing annual dividend for 55 years.
In the Private Capital arena, Caledonia typically seeks to
invest GBP50m to GBP150m in private companies, either on a majority
or minority basis, where Caledonia provides enduring capital and
support to investee company management teams over the longer term.
The Caledonia Private Capital portfolio includes 7IM (a provider of
discretionary fund management, asset management and self-invest
platform services), Stonehage Fleming (a multi-family office
providing fiduciary and investment management services to UHNW
clients and families), Cobehold (the holding company of Cobepa, a
European unquoted investment house), Cooke Optics (a UK
manufacturer of premium cinematography lenses), and Liberation
Group (a pub, restaurant and drinks business with a pub estate
stretching from Southwest London to Bristol and the Channel
Islands).
For additional information on Caledonia Private Capital, please
visit www.caledoniaprivatecapital.com and for Caledonia please
visit www.caledonia.com .
Airvending Limited and AIR-serv Netherlands B.V. (together
"AIR-serv Europe")
Founded in 1984, AIR-serv Europe designs and manufactures air,
vacuum and jet wash machines which it supplies to forecourt
operators as a turn-key solution .
Headquartered in Wigan, Lancashire, it also has offices in six
European countries (the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, France,
Germany and Ireland), employing over 200 people and selling to over
2,500 customers. In its year to 31 March 2022, Airvending Limited
reported profit after tax of GBP4.5m and gross assets of GBP45.3m,
and AIR-serv Netherlands B.V. and its subsidiaries reported an
aggregated profit after tax of EUR0.9m and gross assets of EUR35.0m
respectively.
For additional information on AIR-serv Europe, please visit
www.air-serv.co.uk.
Transaction
Caledonia's investment in AIR-serv Europe was led by Chris
Hodges, Theo Tizard, James Lander and Joe Carter Hepplewhite.
Taylor Wessing (Ed Waldron, Jonny Bethell and Martin Yells)
provided legal advice and Lincoln International (Phil McCreanor and
Aude Doyen) provided corporate finance and debt advice to
Caledonia. OC&C (Tom Gladstone) provided commercial advice,
Deloitte (Tim Haden) provided tax advice and PwC (James Tubby)
provided financial due diligence.
William Blair (Jack Blomfield, Manuel Sammut, AJ Reus and Nick
Comhair) provided corporate finance advice to the vendors and legal
advice was provided by Allen & Overy (Andrew Schoorlemmer and
Robert Hatton). Commercial and financial due diligence advice were
respectively provided to the vendors by EY Parthenon (Rishi Shah)
and EY (Mark Griffiths).
Liberty Corporate Finance (Kevin Palmer) and K&L Gates
(James Cross) advised management.
Neither the contents of Caledonia's nor Air-serv Europe's
websites, nor the contents of any website accessible from
hyperlinks on these websites (or any other website) is incorporated
into, or forms part of, this announcement.
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END
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