Epiris buys Sharps from Sun European Partners

The deal values Sharps in the £150-200m range, a source close to the situation confirmed to Unquote.

The deal is Epiris's eighth investment from Epiris Fund II, which held a final close in October 2018 on £821m. The fund was 54% deployed as of March 2021, according to Unquote Data. The vehicle makes equity investments of £40-150m and offers co-investment opportunities of £30-100m, targeting UK-based companies with enterprise values of £75-500m. The fund is more than 70% deployed following the acquisition of Sharps.

Epiris said in a statement that it intends to explore new marketing, product and operational initiatives as part of the company's ongoing growth.

Pemberton provided financing to back the buyout.

Mergermarket reported earlier in June 2021 that Sharps was up for sale, noting that the company posted EBITDA of €15m.

Sun European acquired Sharps from Homeform Group as part of Homeform's insolvency process in 2011. The deal valued the company at €82m at the time, according to Unquore Data. The GP invested in Sharps via its fifth fund, which held a final close in April 2007 on $6bn.

The GP said in a statement that it worked with Sharps' management during the investment period to make operational improvements, as well as developing new products.

The exit is Sun European's second within a month in the homeware space. The GP announced the sale of mattress brand Dreams to US-headquartered Tempur Sealy in May 2021 for $475m, as reported. The GP had invested in Dreams via its sixth flagship fund, acquiring the company out of administration in a £35m deal in 2013.

Company
Founded in 1973 and headquartered in Bilston, Sharps produces fitted furniture for bedrooms, as well as for home offices. Its products include wardrobes, cupboards and sliding doors for a variety of rooms and landing shapes and sizes. The company sells its furniture via its showrooms and online store. In the financial year ending in September 2020, Sharps reported revenues of £87.9m and EBITDA of £17.4m, according to its latest publicly available financial statements.

People
Epiris – Bill Priestley (chief investment partner); Alex Fortescue (managing partner); Ian Wood (partner); Pablo Espinoza (investment analyst).
Sharps – Kevin Smith (chief executive).
Sun European Partners – Paul Daccus (managing director).

Advisers
Equity – MDW Capital (corporate finance); Macfarlanes (legal); PwC (financial due diligence).
Vendor – DC Advisory (M&A); DLA Piper (legal); FTI Consulting (financial due diligence, tax); PwC (commercial due diligence).

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Exits
• Buyouts
• Consumer
• United Kingdom
• Epiris
• Sun European Partners
• Secondary buyout