LDC reaps 2.4x on £125m Bifold sale to Rotork

The private equity firm made a 2.4x multiple via the transaction, which followed a three-year holding period.

Under LDC’s tenure, the company bolted on Leicestershire-based Orange Instruments in July 2014. Bifold has also invested in developing new products and facilities, opening a new manufacturing facility in Oldham, Greater Manchester, in 2014.

The sale marks the GP’s third exit in recent months, having most recently sold TV production group Boom Supervisory to ITV Studios for £55m in June. It also made 2.4x returns when it sold its stake in price comparison website uSwitch to Zoopla Property Group in April, in a deal worth up to £190m.

Previous funding
LDC acquired Bifold from Caird Capital in April 2012 in a tertiary buyout valuing the business at £85m. The vendor made a 3x return on the deal, having acquired the company from Barclays Capital in a £35m deal in 2007.

Company
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Chadderton, Greater Manchester, Bifold supplies instrument valves and pumps to the oil and gas sector. The company generated a turnover of £41m in its financial year ending August 2014.

People
Ged Gould is a director and co-head of LDC in the north west. Gary Jacobson is CEO of Bifold. 

Advisers
Vendor – Altium, Simon Lord, Adam Sivner, Mark Smith (Corporate finance); Addleshaw Goddard, Paul Medlicott (Legal).

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