Inflexion acquires Marston minority stake

The transaction is said to value the company at £600-700m, according to Unquote sister publication Mergermarket.

Inflexion is currently investing from Inflexion Partnership Capital Fund II, which closed on £1bn in May 2018. It writes equity cheques of £10-200m for minority stakes.

Final bids for the company were due in August 2019 in a Goldman Sachs-led process. Centerbridge and Platinum were also involved in the auction. At the time, the company was being marketed based on EBITDA of almost £65m.

The deal has not yet closed and is expected to in Q1 2020. 

Previous funding
In 2002, Gresham Trust backed the management buyout of Marston, then known as Drakes Group, for an acquisition price of £10m, although fees and other costs brought the total deal value to £12m. Gresham invested £7.6m in return for a substantial minority of the newco's equity.

Inflexion acquired Gresham's stake in the company in 2012, using its Inflexion 2010 Buyout Fund.

ICG acquired the company from Inflexion in 2016.

Company
Marston is a judicial services group, which recovers funds on behalf of taxpayers, businesses and individuals through court order compliance. Founded in 1937, the company generated a revenue of £285m for the year ending in May 2018. Marston is based in Birmingham and employs 6,000 people.

Advisers
Vendor – Goldman Sachs (corporate finance). 

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