Elaghmore acquires Blaze Signs from Mobeus

Blaze is the ninth acquisition made by Elaghmore from its £60m debut private equity fund, Elaghmore I, which closed at the end of 2016. Unquote reported earlier this year that Elaghmore was currently raising for an extension of the vehicle, and expects to close this fundraising towards the end of Q3 of 2020.

The acquisition includes Blaze's trading subsidiaries Blaze Signs and Cygnia Maintenance. Blaze Signs will join Kesslers and Gardners as part of the Elaghmore-owned Hexcite Group, which was created in 2019.

The company's management team will continue to lead the business.

Leeds-based private bank Arbuthnot Latham supported Elaghmore, providing acquisition and working capital facilities to supplement its equity investment.

Previous funding
Management bought out Blaze from its founders in a £14m deal in 2000, backed by the private equity house Dunedin Capital Partners.

In 2006, Mobeus provided £1.6m as part of a secondary management buyout of Blaze Neon in a funding package worth £5m.

Mobeus financed the company's acquisition of Active Sign Maintenance from its founders in 2007. The firm invested an additional £3.7m in the company, alongside further term loan and working capital from Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets. It was first introduced to the opportunity of acquiring Active Sign Maintenance by Meta Corporate Finance in February and won a competitive process to complete the deal.

Company
Based in Broadstairs, Kent, and with a substantial manufacturing and service centre in Birmingham, Blaze designs, manufactures, installs and maintains signage for brands, including Lloyds Bank, Vision Express, Tescos and Sainsburys. It was founded in 1980.

During the pandemic, Blaze has also been providing social distancing and signage products for its customers. Blaze employs 250 people across the UK and made around £25m in revenues in 2019.

Its subsidiary Cygnia provides sign maintenance, sign repairs and image protection services.

People
Elaghmore – Michael Rice (investment director).

Advisers
Equity – Mills & Reeve (legal); KPMG (financial due diligence); Squire Patton Boggs (legal).

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• Topics
• Exits
• Expansion
• UK / Ireland
• Industrials
• United Kingdom
• Mobeus Equity Partners
• Squire Patton Boggs
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• KPMG
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• Buy-and-build