Kester Capital, a primary buyout specialist, has sold Frontier Medical Group to funds advised by Agilitas Private Equity, netting 3.4x and a 30 per cent IRR for its investors.
This is the fourth exit from Kester’s last fund to have achieved a return of over 3.0x. This fund, which closed in 2013, now only holds two remaining assets. The firm’s current fund Kester Capital II closed above target at its hard cap of GBP90 million in August 2020.
The sale of Frontier Medical comes three months after Kester Capital successfully refinanced the business, in tandem with two additional portfolio companies (Avania and YouGarden), on the back of strong revenue and profit growth in each of these companies over the last 18 months. Frontier’s non-core Infection Prevention business was sold in a carve-out to Vernacare in July 2020.
Kester Capital acquired Frontier Medical in 2013 and helped it to grow from a UK focused family-owned business into a leading manufacturer and supplier of Pressure Ulcer Prevention and Infection Prevention products to healthcare providers globally. During Kester Capital’s investment period, the Wales-headquartered business experienced significant international expansion and new product development, resulting in an increase of export revenues by 160 per cent..
As a primary buy-out from the founding family, Frontier Medical exemplifies the sort of business that Kester Capital seeks to back. Having facilitated the succession of the founder through the recruitment of a new senior leadership team led by Simon Jackson, Frontier Medical grew through international expansion as well as through strategic acquisition to cement its leading position in the skin and wound care market. This was supported by significant investment in sales, marketing, operations, clinical evidence, and new product development.
Frontier Medical won the inaugural National BVCA “Responsible Portfolio Company Award” in 2017. Frontier Medical also won the award for “Business Transformation Management Team” at the BVCA Wales Management Team Awards 2019 and was 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.
Cameron Crockett, Managing Partner of Kester Capital, says: “We would like to thank the Frontier team, led by Simon Jackson, Matthew Bambery and Frank Collins, for their exceptional work over the last seven years. It has been a pleasure to partner with such an outstanding team and we wish them, the wider team and the business every success for the future.”
Simon Jackson, CEO at Frontier Medical, adds: “Kester Capital has been a great long-term partner and strong supporter of our ambitious plans. Together we have been able to achieve a great result for shareholders and most importantly a very favourable outlook for our business.”
