H2 acquires Search Consultancy Group

Under its new ownership structure, the company will look to expand its geographic presence across the UK and undertake an acquisitive growth strategy. It will also invest in expanding its range of services and increasing its headcount.

Capital for the transaction was drawn from H2 Equity Partners Fund V, a vehicle that held its first and final close on £200m in March 2016. The fund is the Dutch GP's only sterling-denominated vehicle and primarily targets assets in the UK and Ireland, as well as the Benelux region.

The UK training and recruitment space has been targeted by numerous private players in recent years. Recent transactions include Growth Capital Partners' investment in engineering-focused Shorterm Group and Vespa Capital's investment in pharmaceutical and healthcare specialist Chase Search and Selection, as well as Nova Capital's sale of executive recruitment agency DirectorBank to the company's management.

Debt
Beechbrook provided a mezzanine loan in addition to its equity co-investment to support the acquisition, with capital drawn from the Private Debt III vehicle.The fund typically provides debt packages of between €5-15m to private-equity-backed companies with turnovers of €10-100m.

Company
Founded 1987 and headquartered in Glasgow, Search Consultancy is a UK recruitment business. The company has 13 offices across the UK, with a particular focus on Scotland and the north of England.

It has a headcount of around 660 and generated a turnover of £180m in its latest financial year, according to a statement issued by H2. Search Consultancy generated underlying EBITDA of £7.7m in 2015 against a turnover of £174m, according to publicly available documents.

People
H2 Equity Partners – Patrick Kalverboer (managing partner).
Beechbrook – Paul Shea (managing partner).

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