RCapital backs SciChem MBO

Kenny Wastell
07 September 2017

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Special situations investor RCapital has backed the management buyout of UK-based laboratory equipment and supplies business Scientific and Chemical Supplies (SciChem) from its family owners.

Financial details of the deal remain undisclosed, though RCapital typically invests £200,000-20m in businesses with turnovers of £5-200m.

The transaction is RCapital's second deal of 2017, having invested in chartered surveyor and property consultancy Cluttons via a pre-pack administration in May.

Debt
Existing lenders HSBC and Barclays Bank provided debt facilities to support the transaction.

Company
Wolverhampton-headquartered SciChem distributes laboratory chemicals, equipment and consumable supplies to the education and industrial sectors. The company was founded in 1957 and has a headcount of 90 with additional operations in Cork and Aberdeen.

According to publicly available documents, SciChem generated a £166,000 loss before tax in 2015 on a turnover of £14.6m.

People
RCapital – Chris Campbell (director).
Scientific and Chemical Supplies – Paul Gill (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – FRP Advisory, Raj Mittal (corporate finance); Squire Patton Boggs, Russ Hill (legal).
Vendor – Gateley, Dan French (legal).
Debt – Irwin Mitchell, Jon Bew (legal); Pinsent Masons, David Doogan (legal).