Livingbridge sells Ten10 to Graphite Capital

Katharine Hidalgo
21 October 2020

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Livingbridge has sold quality engineering and software testing company Ten10 to Graphite Capital.

Graphite is currently investing from its ninth-generation vehicle, which closed on £470m in July 2018. The vehicle focuses on UK mid-market companies with enterprise values of £30-150m.

The management team is led by Chris Shaw, who was appointed as chief executive in September 2017. The management team has reinvested a substantial percentage of its proceeds as part of the deal, according to a statement.

Shawbrook Bank provided the debt finance for the transaction.

Previous funding
Livingbridge established Ten10 in 2015, by acquiring and merging two existing companies, Centre4Testing and The Test People. The investment was originally made from Livingbridge's Enterprise 1 fund alongside Invex Capital.

Backing the management team, led by CEO Chris Shaw, Livingbridge supported Ten10's growth across its service lines by investing in new technology and processes, building a digital marketing and sales strategy to expand its client base, and supporting its entry into the US market.

Company
Founded in 2010 and based in Manchester, Ten10 is a quality engineering and software testing consultancy. It has 250 employees across offices in London and Leeds in the UK and in Raleigh, North Carolina, generating revenues of £26m.

People
Graphite Capital – Humphrey Baker (partner).
Livingbridge – Luke Bray (investment professional).

Advisers
Equity – GCA Altium, Oliver Vaughan, Arthur Callaghan, Tom Battersby (corporate finance); Macfarlanes, Alex Green, Nic Page, Malcolm Hitchings (legal); Spectrum Corporate Finance, Ian Milne, Simon Sherliker (debt advisory); PwC, Jonathan Cooper, Chris Hall (financial due diligence); CIL, Tom Fletcher, David Skuse (commercial due diligence).
Vendor – Alantra, Steve Currie, Simon Roberts, Dave Belli, Joe Carpenter (corporate finance); Pinsent Masons, Amie Norris, Lisa Early (legal).