
YFM backs £4m Business Collaborator buyout
YFM Equity Partners has backed the £4m buy-in management buyout of Business Collaborator, a UK-based provider of collaboration software for the construction sector.
YFM injected £3.35m into the company. No debt was provided for the deal.
The transaction saw Business Collaborator break apart from its owner Unit4, a Dutch software company that was taken private by Advent International in November last year for €1.28bn.
Technology entrepreneur Richard Beaton is leading the MBO of the company and will join as chairman.
Company
Reading-based Business Collaborator is a developer of building information modelling and collaboration software. It has created an auditable common data environment designed to allow businesses to store and share project information in the cloud. The service was commercially launched in 1998.
The software is used by the construction and utilities industries, with the company claiming to have 160,000 users overall. Business Collaborator employs 30 staff.
People
Sanjeev Shah is the CEO of Business Collaborator, while Richard Beaton is its new chairman. YFM investment director Giles Whitman led the deal for the firm.
Advisers
Equity – Osborne Clarke, Matthew Lewis, Helen Reed (Legal); Baker Tilly, Lee Castledine, Paul Kearney (Financial due diligence).
Management – Clearwater International, Carl Houghton, Andy Dyer (Corporate finance); Gateley, Rebecca Grisewood, Christopher Williams (Legal).
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