Kester nets 3.4x return on sale of Frontier Medical to Agilitas

Eliza Punshi
02 June 2021

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Agilitas has acquired Frontier Medical Group, a medical device manufacturer that focuses on skin and wound care, from Kester Capital.

Kester announced that it achieved 3.4x and a 30% IRR from the sale. The GP's exit comes eight years after it acquired the company via its maiden fund.

Mergermarket reported in October 2020 that Kester had hired Deloitte to run the sale process, and that Frontier generated £7m in EBITDA.

Agilitas' latest fund is the Agilitas 2020 Private Equity Fund, which held a final close in March this year at its hard-cap of €565m. The GP said its investment would help the company further strengthen its skin and wound care business in both the UK and international markets, launch new products, and open a new head office and manufacturing site later in 2021.

Company
Founded in 1966 and headquartered in Blackwood, Frontier Medical Group specialises in designing and manufacturing products that are used in the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers.

The company has 85 employees and operates internationally via its headquarters and manufacturing facility in South Wales, as well as additional offices in Berlin and Buffalo, New York.

People
Agilitas - Martin Calderbank (managing partner).
Frontier Medical Group - Simon Jackson (CEO).

Advisers
Equity - CIL (commercial due diligence); PwC (financial due diligence); EY (tax); Marsh (insurance due diligence); Ashurst (legal).
Vendor - Deloitte (M&A); Travers Smith (legal); Grant Thornton (financial due diligence, tax); LEK (commercial due diligence).
Company - Arrowpoint (M&A); Pinsent Masons (legal).