Electra buys Allen & Heath for £43m

The deal also saw management provide part of the £43m funding, although a substantial majority of the sum was supplied by Electra through a combination of debt and equity. Electra's investment was provided by its LSE-listed Electra Private Equity Plc vehicle.

D&M is owned by Bain Capital, which bought the business in June 2008 for a reported $441m. A few months prior to Bain's investment, Allen & Heath was acquired by D&M from Growth Capital Partners for £20m in April 2008. Growth Capital had acquired the business in an £8m secondary buyout from 3i in 2006.

The deal marks Electra's fourth investment so far this year. Recent transactions include the firm's £210m acquisition of Cala Group alongside Patron Capital Partners and the £160m buyout of UBM Data Services.

Debt
A debt package for the transaction was provided by Electra via its Electra Private Equity Plc vehicle.

Company
Allen & Heath, founded in 1969, is headquartered in Cornwall and currently employs 147 staff. The company designs and manufactures audio mixing consoles for venues holding live events such as concerts and theatres.

The company's products cater to DJs, PAs and houses of worship. Allen & Heath has also previously provided mixing consoles for bands such as Pink Floyd and The Who. Its products have recently been used by singers such as Adele and Morrissey, as well as radio stations XFM and Capital Radio.

People
Glenn Rogers is managing director at Allen & Heath. Investment partner Charles Elkington, investment manager Ian Wood and investment associate Shakira Adigun-Boaye worked on the deal for Electra. Elkington and Wood will join Allen & Heath's board of directors following the transaction. Alex Fortescue is the chief investment partner at Electra and also manages the firm's debt packages.

Advisers
Equity – Taylor Wessing (Legal).
Company/vendor – Houlihan Lokey (Corporate finance); Ropes & Gray International (Legal).

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