Lyceum Capital has closed its 14th deal this year with the acquisition of Kent-based commercial drainage specialist Drain Control by its portfolio company UKDN. The deal is the second major transaction in as many months for UKDN which has so far invested over GBP15 million in its market consolidation strategy.
Already the UK’s biggest independent provider of specialist drain maintenance and repair services, the deal further strengthens UKDN’s existing foothold in the commercial market and re-enforces its presence in the South East.
Established 20 years ago, Drain Control provides a full portfolio of drainage and plumbing services to a diverse client base which includes major names such as McDonalds and Debenhams.
The move enables current and new clients to leverage the enlarged business’ nationwide network of 18 depots and 500-strong team of directly employed operatives who deliver a broad range of remediation, validation, investigation and repair services.
The latest acquisition follows the Lyceum Capital-backed merger of UKDN with Waterflow. Both deals were sourced by Lyceum Capital’s origination team and the transactions were led by Simon Hitchcock and Martin Wygas.
Since Lyceum Capital backed UKDN in January 2010, it has executed an organic and acquisition-driven growth strategy which has seen the business more than double its turnover to £55 million whilst expanding its range of services and investing significantly in new operational systems.
UKDN’s consolidation of the highly fragmented drainage market is set to continue as the business has a number of acquisitions in the pipeline which will complete in the coming months.
Simon Hitchcock (pictured), Partner at Lyceum Capital and Non-Executive Director of UKDN, says: “Through targeted investment in UKDN’s operations and the acquisition of high quality assets, the business has been transformed into the leading independent provider of drainage services to customers across the insurance, domestic, commercial and public sectors.
“We intend to build further on this success in 2012 both through continued new client wins and completing additional acquisitions.”
