TPA Capital acquires Pallet-Track

Katharine Hidalgo
12 March 2019

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London-based investor TPA Capital has acquired a controlling stake in haulage network Pallet-Track.

The vendors included a small number of external shareholders, who have now been exited, as well as the commercial director and managing director of the company. The management team have reinvested as part of the transaction.

In Pallet-Track's financial year to 31 January 2018, the company's sales grew from £79m to £84.6m, with pre-tax profits rising from £3m to £3.5m.

TPA seeks to invest between £5-25m in businesses with an enterprise value of between £5-50m.

Ravi Aujla, investment director at TPA, said: "This will be a long-term investment and we will partner closely with management. Pallet-Track is a network of almost 90 businesses, so we'll work with each one of those to support their growth, which in turn will benefit Pallet-Track. We'll support those members, whether that be through the new proprietary technology platform, which started to be rolled out a month ago, or through helping them drive sales."

"The industry has a track record of PE investment so there's a fairly well-trodden path. We invest without any bank debt and have no plans to refinance out, which gives us a lot more flexibility."

TPA's TPA Capital Investments Fund is evergreen and uses funds returned through its portfolio companies to reinvest.

Company
Headquartered in Wolverhampton and with two regional hubs in Wigan and Welwyn Garden City, the company was founded by current managing director Nigel Parkes in 2002. The company provides services to the palletised freight sector.

People
Pallet-Track – Nigel Parkes (managing director).
TPA Capital – Ravi Aujla (investment director).

Advisers
Equity – Livingstone Partners (corporate finance); Pinsent Masons (legal); BDO (financial due diligence).
Company – Clearwater International (corporate finance); George Green (legal); PwC (financial due diligence).