YFM Equity Partners, a private equity fund manager, has backed the MBO of TEV Limited, a UK designer and manufacturer of cooling, heating and refrigeration equipment.
TEV marks the third investment from the YFMEP 2016 Fund which closed at the end of last month.
TEV operates through two widely recognised brands, Marstair and Quartz, both of which offer bespoke products which are unavailable in the mass market. Marstair supplies air conditioning and refrigeration equipment into a variety of end markets, such as retail, leisure, food manufacture and solutions for harsh climates. Quartz focuses on chilled water cooling solutions for commercial, residential and public sector applications.
TEV manufactures in the UK and employs 56 staff at its headquarters in Brighouse, West Yorkshire.
Over the past few years, TEV has delivered significant revenue and profit growth. The management team of Tony Hammersley, Chris Chisman and James Carr-Smith, supported by chairman Chris Brown, is now looking to invest in sales and product to accelerate the growth across all areas of the business.
Ian Waterfield, investment director at YFM, says: “TEV has a strong reputation in this industry and has delivered consistent growth over the last few years. Its focus on energy efficiency in product design and the further tightening of environmental regulations provides a positive backdrop for the company to continue to leverage its experience and reputation to harness niche opportunities in the UK and overseas.
“This is the third investment from YFM’s recently closed 2016 Fund, which was raised to invest in well-established UK businesses and to support management teams in delivering their ambitious growth plans.”
Hammersley says: “YFM is known for successfully growing UK manufacturing business and so we are thrilled with both their investment and the expertise which they will provide. We are looking forward to working closely with YFM to enable us to deliver our growth plans and reach the company’s true potential.”
TEV was advised by Tariq Javaid of Garbutt + Elliott and Chris Blantern of Schofield Sweeney. Legal advice to YFM was provided by Duncan Firman of Gordons, financial due diligence was carried out by Jeff Gardner and Rob McCarthy of DSW Transaction Services, commercial due diligence by Robin Illingworth of Drystone Strategy Partners, and organisational due diligence and management assessment by Anna Cornwallis of Stratton HR.
Santander Growth Capital team, led by Steve Harrison, provided debt finance.
The vendors were advised by Oliver Hoffman of Mazars and Sarah Walton of Weightmans.
