Better Capital’s BECAP Fund has advanced funds to allow one of its portfolio investments, Gardner Group Limited (Gardner), to make a strategic, bolt-on acquisition.
Gardner is the UK’s largest independently owned supplier of metallic aerospace details and sub-assemblies. Customers include Airbus, Rolls-Royce, GKN, BAE Systems and other major international companies in the aviation sector.
The acquisition by a new subsidiary of Gardner comprises certain of the assets and obligations of Blade Tooling Company Limited (in administration) and Blade Technology (a partnership, in administration) (together Blade) from the joint administrators, Will Wright and Mark Orton of KPMG LLP, for a cash consideration of GBP0.6m.
Blade is a manufacturer and supplier of complex aerofoil tooling, ceramic cores and wax mouldings to the aerospace and industrial gas turbine markets. It is based in Pershore, Worcestershire. The Directors of Gardner believe that the acquisition of Blade will strengthen a number of Gardner’s key commercial relationships, and that the exploitation of Gardner’s existing infrastructure, systems and network will significantly improve the performance of Blade.
A total of GBP3.0m is being allocated to finance this acquisition and to fund the working capital requirements of the new company, GBP0.5m of which will come from Gardner’s current cash reserves and GBP2.5m of which has been advanced from the Better Capital Fund.
Out of the GBP20m originally anticipated to be invested by the Better Capital Fund in Gardner (as announced on 3 February 2010) £18.5m was invested prior to the acquisition of Blade. Following this acquisition the Better Capital Fund’s total investment in Gardner will increase to GBP21.0m.
Phil Lewis, Chief Executive of Gardner, says: “Gardner is very pleased to complete this acquisition and believe Blade is a business with great potential that will broaden Gardner’s relationships with strategically important customers.”
