Sovereign reaps 8x on sale of Kindertons to ExamWorks

Kenny Wastell
22 May 2018

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Sovereign Capital has generated an 8x return from the sale of Kindertons, a UK-based specialist provider of outsourced accident management services, to trade buyer ExamWorks.

The deal comes four and a half years after the GP's initial investment in Kindertons, representing an IRR of 73% for Sovereign Capital Limited Partnership Fund III.

Across the four-and-a-half-year holding period, Kindertons increased its EBITDA from around £7m to £20m, according to a statement, with its headcount growing from 450 to around 1,000.

During the vendor's tenure, Kindertons undertook an acquisitive growth strategy. It bolted on motorbike hire and repair business Plantec in 2013, taxi credit hire business Sovereign Automotive in 2016, credit hire provider Platinum Assistance in 2017 and specialist accident management provider Crusader Assistance in 2018.

The business also appointed CEO Neil Cunningham to support a founder succession plan, having introduced chairperson Jon Walden at the time of the initial deal.

Previous funding
Sovereign acquired Kindertons in October 2013, in a deal supported by a debt package from Chenavari Investment Managers.

Company
Headquartered in Crewe and founded in 1993, Kindertons provides outsourced accident management services for motor insurers and insurance brokers, as well as claims management services for drivers who have been involved in road traffic accidents. According to publicly available documents, the group generated a turnover of £133.9m in the year ending in February 2017 – prior to the acquisitions of Platinum Assistance and Crusader Assistance – with adjusted EBITDA of £14.9m.

People
Sovereign Capital – Neil Cox (partner); Rob King (investment director).
Kindertons – Neil Cunningham (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor – Evercore, Ollie Clayton, Graham Copeland (corporate finance); Pinsent Masons, Tom Leman, Tom Shorten (legal); KPMG, Richard Aston (financial due diligence); OC&C, Mark Jannaway, Nigel Stirk (commercial due diligence).