BGF has exited its investment in The Clearway Group, a vacant property services business, following a new investment into the business by private equity firm, Next Wave Partners.
London-headquartered Clearway provides technology-led solutions, including CCTV and alarms, to monitor and secure vacant properties. The business has nationwide operations in the UK and a strong presence in France.
BGF invested GBP10 million in the business in 2018, followed by a further GBP1m investment in 2019, to support Clearway’s acquisitive growth strategy. The business has seen an increase in demand for its services focused on keeping unused or vacant properties safe and secure during lockdown.
Clearway completed five acquisitions following BGF’s investment including Protim, a French vacant property services business and Cerberus, a UK alarm monitoring services business. The business has a strong pipeline of acquisition opportunities which it plans to pursue during the next stage of growth.
The exit was led for BGF by William Gresty and Tom McDonnell.
Ian Quinlan, founder and CEO, The Clearway Group, says: “BGF’s funding and partnership has enabled us to make important strategic acquisitions in a relatively short period and we’ve been able to more than treble the profitability of the business since BGF’s investment. We’ve also benefited from access to BGF’s talent network, which has enabled us to bring new talent into the management team. Clearway is now in a strong position to continue to expand our presence in the UK and overseas, and we’re looking forward to the next stage of growth.”
William Gresty, investor at BGF, said: “Clearway – under the leadership of Ian Quinlan, non-executive chair Stephen Walls and the rest of the management team – has experienced impressive growth during our investment. We’re delighted to have seen our funding used to make a series of successful acquisitions internationally and also to see the development of a management team that can really scale the business with its new investor. We believe that there is a strong opportunity for further growth and wish the team every success for the future.”
Clearway and BGF were advised on the deal by Acuity Advisors (Corporate Finance), DLA Piper and Alternative Advocats (Legal), RSM Corporate Finance (Financial due diligence), Deloitte (Tax due diligence) and CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP (BGF Legal)
