BGF (Business Growth Fund) has exited its investment in Cussins, a family-owned house builder based in the North East, following the acquisition by Northumberland Estates of a minority stake in the business for an undisclosed sum.
The Cussins family remain majority owners of the business.
Minority shareholder BGF invested GBP5 million in Cussins in December 2014 to support new site acquisition and housing developments including sites at Longframlington, Warkworth and Longhorsely. In this time, turnover has more than trebled, with expected sales in excess of GBP15 million for 2016 and further growth forecast for 2017.
During the past 100 years, three generations of the Cussins family have built more than 50,000 homes in North East.
The business will continue to trade under the Cussins name, and Jabin Cussins will remain as CEO. Mike Stansfield, the former CEO of David Wilson Homes who was introduced to the business by BGF, and Richard Taylor, who led the original investment for BGF and served as non-executive director, will both step down from the board following the exit.
BGF has backed more than 145 growing businesses and invested nearly GBP1 billion since 2011. The firm will now reinvest the returns from this exit into other entrepreneurial companies.
Jabin Cussins says: “We enjoyed tremendous support from BGF over the past two years and we could have happily continued our growth plans with their backing. At the same time, they have wholly supported our decision to progress to the next stage of our development alongside Northumberland Estates.
“BGF’s original equity funding immediately helped us to secure a significantly larger bank facility, which helped us accelerate our development plans. The growth we have demonstrated since, and the prospects for Cussins today, are testament to impact that BGF has had. I would like to thank Richard and the team at BGF for all their support.”
Taylor says: “In the two years since we invested in Cussins, the business has gone from strength to strength and we are fully supportive of this transaction, which has delivered a strong return for all shareholders.”
