Montagu acquires FSP from August

Kenny Wastell
12 May 2016

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August Equity has sold UK portfolio company Funeral Services Partnership (FSP) to Montagu Private Equity for an undisclosed sum.

Under August's tenure the company has undertaken a buy-and-build strategy, which has seen it grow from 24 branches to 131. Montagu stated it intends to continue growing the company through acquisitions.

Most recently, FSP acquired 47 branches from Laurel Funerals, which was backed by Duke Street at the time. It also completed the bolt-on of three other companies – Gillman Funeral Services, AV Ridout Funeral Directors and C&T Radmall Services – in December 2010.

The resiliency and fragmented nature of the funeral services industry has typically made it an attractive target for private equity companies and has therefore seen a number of pass-the-parcel deals. Duke Street, Babson Capital Europe and Metric Capital Partners acquired the aforementioned Laurel Funerals from Sovereign Capital in April 2012, while Pamplona's €900m acquisition of OGF from Astorg Partners marked the fourth time the business had been under private equity ownership.

Previous funding
August acquired FSP for an undisclosed sum in September 2009, investing £23m to fund its acquisitive strategy. HSBC provided acquisition finance to support the deal.

The company had previously received institutional backing, with Maven Capital Partners (at the time part of Aberdeen Asset Management) investing £5m to acquire a significant minority stake in June 2007. Maven then joined Octopus Investments in a £3.75m round for the business in November 2007.

Company
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Nottingham, FSP is a funeral services provider. The group is comprised of numerous local funeral companies that have retained their historical brands and management teams, while benefiting from a centralised operational set-up.

August says FSP has increased its profits sixfold since its initial investment. The company has a headcount of 500.

People
Montagu – Alex Dabbous (director).
August – Philip Rattle (partner).
FSP – Phillip Greenfield (CEO).