Graphite backs management buyout of Hanson Wade

Kenny Wastell
15 August 2019

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

Graphite Capital has supported the management buyout of Hanson Wade, a UK-headquartered event production company and data provider.

Financial details of the transaction remain undisclosed, though a report by Unquote sister publication Mergermarket cited sources who said the deal values Hanson Wade at £96m and was based on EBITDA of £8m.

The company's founder, Sarah McCaldin, has reinvested for a minority stake in the business and will remain with Hanson Wade in the role of non-executive director.

Graphite is currently investing from Graphite Capital Partners IX, which held a final close on £470m in July last year. It plans to make 8-12 deals. The vehicle focuses on UK mid-market companies with enterprise values of £30-150m.

Hanson Wade intends to pursue bolt-on opportunities, in addition to capitalising on growing global demand for corporate events and conferences. The company's revenues increased by 117% to £22.6m between 2016 and 2018, according to a statement, with its number of events almost doubling during the same period.

Crescent Capital Group and HSBC provided a debt package to support the transaction.

Company
Founded in 2008, London-headquartered Hanson Wade is an event and conference production company focusing primarily on the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. Its Beacon product provides customers with access to data and research related to clinical trials and niche bio-pharma segments. It also produces events related to human resources, construction and engineering. The majority of the company's revenues are generated from US sales.

People
Graphite Capital – Humphrey Baker (partner); Mike Tilbury (head of new investment); Tony Saade (investment director); Liam McGivern (partner).
Hanson Wade – Tom Richardson (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – PwC, Malcolm Wren, Graeme Scott, Jonathan Cooper, Tom Williams (corporate finance, financial due diligence); Goodwin Procter, Richard Lever, Simon Fulbrook, Stan Shishkin (legal); Clearwater International, Chris Smith, Lachlan Dorrity (debt advisory); CIL, Tabitha Elwes, Luke Rowell (commercial due diligence).
Vendor – Cardean Bell, Peter Bell, Oliver Levy (corporate finance); Macfarlanes, Jessica Adam, Mark Stephens (legal).