Leading mid-market private equity firm LDC has invested £10.5million for a significant stake in the management buy-out of Dale Power Solutions, a leading manufacturer and service provider of secure power solutions, from listed electronics business TT electronics plc.
The deal is the sixth transaction to be completed by LDC Midlands’ team using capital from LDC’s £200million Manufacturing and Specialist Engineering commitment.
Dale Power Solutions was established more than 75 years ago and operates through two established brands, Dale and Erskine, to provide secure power and business continuity solutions to major national and international customers in the petro-chem, telecommunications, rail, financial services and industrial sectors.
The businesses’ products are large bespoke generators and UPS systems (uninterruptable power supply units) manufactured at the company’s two UK factories located in Scarborough. The two brands, both of which have a reputation for technical excellence, in conjunction offer a complete power service, giving instantaneous emergency power generation and continuity to operations which cannot tolerate even the shortest of power interruption such as data centres, financial institutions, transport and hospitals.
Dale Power Solutions provides a comprehensive and bespoke design capability service to its customers, taking initial concepts through state-of-the-art design, project management, installation and commissioning processes, followed by complete maintenance and servicing on a worldwide basis.
Having reported significant revenue growth in recent years, Dale Power Solutions has an annual turnover in excess of £30million. The business is headquartered in Scarborough and employs more than 200 people, the majority of whom are based in the UK. It also has a growing presence in overseas markets, particularly the Middle East, where it has an established operation.
LDC has backed Dale Power Solutions’ existing management team, which is led by Chief Executive Tim Wilkins. As part of LDC’s investment strategy, the existing management team will be further supported by the appointment of Denzil Lee as Chairman. Mr Lee has worked in private equity backed companies for a number of years, and brings significant marketing and manufacturing experience to Dale Power Solutions which will help drive the business’ growth strategy.
The deal was led by Investment Director Andy Lyndon, supported by John Green. Both will join the board as Non-Executive Directors with immediate effect.
Commenting on LDC’s investment, Tim Wilkins, Dale Power Solutions Chief Executive said:
“LDC’s investment brings additional strategic input and financial backing to our business and will help us to deliver our ambitious growth plans. As well as increasing the pace of organic growth across our core brands, we are keen to pursue appropriate acquisition opportunities both in the UK and internationally and in related product areas.”
Martin Draper, LDC’s UK New Business Managing Director said:
“Dale Power Solutions has a leading worldwide reputation through its leading industry brands - Dale and Erskine, both of which are highly regarded and well recognised in their respective markets for their technical expertise.
“We are partnering with a high-quality management team led by Tim Wilkins, which will be further strengthened by the appointment of Denzil Lee as Chairman. Going forward, we will work closely with the team to identify organic and acquisitive opportunities to accelerate growth.”
Reflecting on the completion of another successful new investment using funds from LDC’s Manufacturing and Specialist Engineering initiative, Martin Draper added:
“This deal represents the sixth transaction completed using funds from our manufacturing commitment taking our aggregate investment to £120 million and reaffirms our support for regionally based mid-market businesses with ambitious growth plans operating within the manufacturing and engineering arena.”
The transaction was completed with support from a number of Midlands advisors, including Gateley who acted as legal adviser to LDC, Browne Jacobson and Springboard Corporate Finance who advised Dale Power Solutions management team and Deloitte who provided financial due diligence.
Issued on behalf of LDC by Citypress
Press information: Katie Dale, Citypress. Telephone: 0121 230 1783