CD&R-owned Exova to float on LSE

The IPO, scheduled for April 2014, is expected to raise £110m with 30% of the company's shares available for public trading. The GP will sell some of its stake with the remainder subject to a lock-up period, the details of which are currently undisclosed.

According to unquote" data, CD&R acquired Exova in August 2008, then Bodycote Testing Group, in a deal valued at approximately £417m. The GP's capital was drawn from CD&R Fund VII.

Exova, which will redeem its publicly traded bonds following the flotation, generated a turnover of £279m in 2013, up 10% on 2012 revenue of £253.6m. Its 2013 adjusted EBITDA figure was £48.1m, up 15.1% year-on-year.

The company has undertaken an acquisitive strategy under CD&R's tenure. In 2013, it acquired US vehicle testing company Defiance and Czech-based calibration services provider GSMobile. In January 2014 it added UK-based stack emissions testing specialist Catalyst. The company intends to continue investigating similar opportunities following the flotation.

The GP has made significant changes to Exova's management team in five and a half years at the helm. In 2011 it hired Ian El-Mokadem as CEO and it has also announced the appointment of Allister Langlands as a non-executive director in preparation for the IPO.

A provider of laboratory-based testing and advisory services, Exova is headquartered in Edinburgh and operates 117 laboratories across 22 countries. It employs a sales team of more than 100, with almost 90% of the group's revenues generated from operations in Europe and the Americas.

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