Rutland sells AFI after six years

Greg Gille
15 August 2019

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Rutland Partners has sold AFI, a UK-based provider of rental cherry pickers and elevated platforms, back to the management team.

AFI is the final exit for Rutland's 2007-vintage Rutland Fund II.

Concurrently to the management buy-back transaction – led by CEO David McNicholas and chair David Shipman – AFI has acquired sector peer Facelift, which focuses on the truck-mounted platform market. The combined deal represents a value of around £160m.

AFI will now be majority owned and run by its existing management team, with financial support from legacy bankers PNC and £60m of new funding from Pricoa Private Capital.

Rutland first backed the company in May 2013, in a £85m deal that saw AFI and Hi-Reach in the UK merge with Access Rental Gulf in the Middle East - AFI was bought from previous backers Equistone Partners Europe. The initial deal was supported by a £50m five-year revolving asset-based lending facility from GE Capital.

In 2015, AFI secured a £70m refinancing from asset-based lender PNC Business Credit. The refinancing included a £55m asset-backed lending facility alongside a £15m term loan. The fresh funds were earmarked for the company's growth plans in the UK and the Middle East.

Since Rutland's original investment, AFI has completed several further bolt-on transactions, opened new depots and broadened its service offering. Revenues increased from c£50m at acquisition to more than £100m currently.

Company
Founded in May 2002, AFI supplies powered access equipment for rent and sale, as well as related training courses. The company operates depots in the UK and the Middle East. It has 675 employees.

People
Rutland Partners – Oliver Jones, David Wardrop (partners); Kajen Mohanadas (investment director).

Advisers
Vendor – Deloitte, Paul Trickett, Matt Cheetham, Anil Gupta, Henry Pearson (corporate finance); Taylor Wessing, Ed Waldron, Jonny Bethell (legal).