New Mountain sells Alexander Mann to Omers for £820m

Oscar Geen
10 May 2018

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New Mountain Capital has sold London-based recruitment company Alexander Mann Solutions (AMS) to Omers Private Equity for an enterprise value of ТЃ820m.

Omers acquired the business in an all-equity transaction, with a view to refinancing later.

The company's management team, led by Rosaleen Blair, is also participating in the buyout, acquiring a meaningful minority stake.

The sale ends a four-and-a-half year holding period for New Mountain, which acquired the business at an enterprise value of £260m in October 2013.

Under New Mountain's ownership, the company recorded EBITDA growth of 20% per year, reaching £43m for 2017. It has also doubled its headcount from 2,000 to 4,000.

The business did not make any bolt-ons with New Mountain's backing, but achieved organic growth through the acquisition of new customers and by upgrading its service to existing customers.

Omers won out against other transatlantic PE firms in the final round, while strategic buyers had submitted initial bids, Unquote understands.

Previous funding
Advent International invested £25m in Alexander Mann Group in July 1999. It sold this stake when Graphite Capital acquired the company in a £100m buyout transaction in December 2007.

Graphite made a 3.5x return on the sale of the business six years later, when New Mountain acquired it for an enterprise value of £260m.

Company
AMS operates through long-term contracts with international clients, providing recruitment and consulting services to aid in attracting, engaging and retaining employees. The company was founded in 1996 by CEO Rosaleen Blair.

Clients include Rolls-Royce, Deloitte, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Microsoft and Vodafone. The company supports its clients in more than 85 countries through its client service centres in the UK, the US, Poland and the Philippines. It has regional offices in London, New York, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Melbourne.

People
Omers Private Equity – Martin le Huray (co-head).
New Mountain Capital – Mat Lori (managing director).
Alexander Mann Solutions – Rosaleen Blair (CEO).

Advisers
Acquirer – NM Rothschild & Sons (corporate finance); Weil Gotshal & Manges (legal).
Vendor – Baird, David Silver, Peter Augar (M&A); Kirkland & Ellis (legal).