Kester Capital’s (Kester) portfolio company Frontier Medical, has sold its Infection Prevention business in a carve-out to Vernacare, backed by HIG Capital. The deal includes the brands Sharpsafe, Clinisafe and eXchange. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
The exited businesses are industry-leaders in the Infection Prevention market providing an extensive range of sharps and clinical waste disposal solutions. Sharpsafe was the world’s first purpose-designed plastic sharps container. With a customer base across the UK and Europe, the business operates from its site in Blackwood, Wales.
Frontier’s core division, Frontier Therapeutics, a leading provider of differentiated Skin and Wound Care products comprising the Repose, Toto® and Dermisplus brands, will continue to operate as usual under the direction of the existing management team led by Simon Jackson, backed by Kester Capital.
Kester Capital acquired Frontier Medical Group in 2013 and has helped it to grow from a successful family-owned business into a global medical device business with significant revenue, EBITDA and head count increases since its investment. Headquartered in Blackwood, Wales, and founded in 1966, Frontier Medical has grown to become a leading manufacturer and supplier of Pressure Ulcer Prevention and Infection Prevention products to healthcare providers in the UK and it’s Export markets around the world.
The sale comes at a busy time for Kester Capital which has completed two deals in the last 12 months; the MBO’s of YouGarden and Vixio (formerly ComplianceOnline), as well as follow on portfolio acquisitions and the expansion of its investment team.
Cameron Crockett, Managing Partner at Kester Capital, said: “We are very pleased to have completed the sale of the Infection Prevention business of Frontier Medical to Vernacare, a strategically complementary fit. Our focus is now to continue to support the Skin and Wound Care business, Frontier Therapeutics, and to accelerate the international growth of this part of the business by capitalising on its strong clinical and market position.”
Simon Jackson, Chief Executive of Frontier Medical, says: “In recent years, driven by strong commercial and operations activity, the Infection Prevention business has gained significant market share across its regions of operation and played a leading role in supplying health services with safe clinical waste disposal systems. We wish the team well and are certain that the combination of the businesses will support the next phase of growth.”
Frontier Medical won the award for “Business Transformation Management Team” at the BVCA Wales Management Team Awards 2019 and was also included in The London Stock Exchange Group’s “1000 Companies to Inspire Britain 2019”, an annual celebration of some of the fastest-growing and most dynamic small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK. Frontier Medical also won the inaugural National BVCA “Responsible Portfolio Company Award” in 2017.
Kester and Frontier Medical were advised on the transaction by Deloitte (lead advisor), Travers Smith (legal advice to shareholders), TLT (legal advice to company), Grant Thornton (vendor financial due diligence) and CiL (vendor commercial due diligence).
