Ares refinances PE-backed Daisy with £1bn

Kenny Wastell
26 February 2019

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Ares Credit Group has provided a ТЃ1bn debt package to private-equity-backed telecommunications business Daisy Group in order to support the founder and chairperson's acquisition of a minority stake from an unnamed minority investor.

Daisy is backed by Oakley Capital and Toscafund. The business last year abandoned a proposed sale to Bain Capital after some of its investors objected to the transaction, according to a report by the Financial Times.

The latest deal will also see the group refinance its existing credit facilities.

Daisy has undertaken an acquisitive growth strategy in recent years, most recently bolting on Birmingham-based Voice Mobile in June 2018.

Oakley is invested in the group via Oakley Capital Private Equity II, a vehicle that held its first close in 2013 and has a standard 10-year lifecycle.

Previous funding
Oakley first invested in Daisy in 2009, when it acquired a minority stake in the business in a deal that coincided with the telecommunications company's listing on the London Stock Exchange.

Penta Capital, Toscafund and Daisy founder Matthew Riley then backed a £494m take-private of the company in 2014. Oakley sold a minority stake via the delisting, but subsequently reacquired a minority position from existing shareholders for around £39m in 2015.

Ares provided junior debt facilities to support Daisy's take-private in 2014, alongside a bank-led senior debt syndicate. The asset manager subsequently provided "a number of add-on financings" for the group in order to support bolt-on acquisitions, according to a statement.

Company
Founded in 2001, Daisy is a telecommunications and IT company. The business is headquartered in Nelson, Lancashire, and has operations in 30 locations across the UK. It has a headcount of 4,000.

Daisy's ultimate parent company, Daisy Group Holdings, generated adjusted EBITDA of £127m from revenues of £684m in the year ending in March 2018, according to publicly available documents. This is a marked increase on the adjusted EBITDA of £18.4m from a turnover of £123.9m in the year ending in March 2015, the year immediately following Daisy's take-private.

People
Daisy Group – Matthew Riley (founder, chairperson).
Ares Credit Group – Michael Dennis (partner).