Equistone buys Bulgin in £105m deal

Greg Gille
31 July 2019

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Equistone Partners Europe has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Bulgin, a UK-headquartered developer and manufacturer of environmentally sealed parts, for an enterprise valuation of ТЃ105m.

Equistone will acquire the business from corporate Elektron Technology. Completion of the transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions.

Elektron appointed corporate finance house Livingstone to run a sale process with a relatively limited number of potential buyers, Unquote understands.

The existing management team will acquire a minority shareholding alongside Equistone. The business will continue to be led by John Wilson, who will transition from the role of executive chair to CEO. Peter Williamson will be brought in as non-executive chair. Equistone's Paul Harper and Tristan Manuel will take seats on the board.

The transaction marks the fourth carve-out in the space of a month for Equistone. The GP previously bought Moody's Analytics Knowledge Services from NYSE-listed Moody's Corporation; residential property management company FirstPort from Knight Square; and perimeter protection business Heras from CRH in the Netherlands.

Equistone currently invests from its sixth flagship fund, Equistone Partners Europe Fund VI, which closed in March 2018 on its €2.8bn hard-cap. It seeks to invest €25-150m in western European lower-mid-market companies with enterprise values typically between €50-500m.

Company
Founded in 1923 and headquartered in Cambridge, Bulgin develops and manufactures connectors and related components for harsh-environment applications. Its target sectors included industrials, transport, infrastructure and medical technology.

With locations in the UK, North America, Asia-Pacific and north Africa, it supplies 92,000 end users. Bulgin employs 680 people and generates annual revenues in excess of £30m.

People
Equistone – Paul Harper (partner); Tristan Manuel (investment director); Will Copeland (investment manager).

Advisers
Equity – DC Advisory (M&A); PwC (tax); FTI Consulting (financial due diligence); Roland Berger (commercial due diligence); Travers Smith (legal); Marlborough Partners (debt advisory).