Soho Square exits Technical Fire Safety to Ergon’s SVT Group

The company, which manufactures fire-rated glass products for the construction and refurbishment markets, has quadrupled its enterprise value in the period, the statement said.

SVT, a German provider of preventive passive fire protection products and installation management and restoration management services, has been backed by Ergon since 2017. Ergon has established a EUR 270m special purpose vehicle dedicated to SVT with the aim of supporting its growth by capitalising on underlying market and safety trends, as well as organic growth and build-up potential, as reported.

Soho Square (formerly ESO Capital) invested in TFSG in 2018 with a plan to drive growth through investments in R&D, enhanced manufacturing capacity and expansion into new geographies. During the hold period, TFSG has grown rapidly, with revenue and EBITDA both increasing threefold, it said.

Unquote’s sister publication Mergermarket reported in April that Soho Square mandated Rothschild to guide the sale process of the Haydock, UK-based business based on around GBP 10m-GBP 11m EBITDA.

TFSG generated revenues of GBP 50.4m and EBITDA of GBP 8.5m last year, according to a Companies House filing.

Soho Square acquired a stake in TFSG (formerly Pyroguard) from former sponsors NVM Private Equity and Dunedin in September 2018 for an undisclosed sum. Under the management buyout deal, TFSG’s leadership team, led by CEO Neil Tilsley, became majority shareholders in the business, as previously reported.

Soho Square is investing through Soho Square III, which closed late year, according to its website. It currently manages around GBP 350m in AUM, according to media reports.

Company
Technical Fire Safety Group, which trades under the brands Pyroguard and Fire Glass UK, manufactures cuttable and toughened fire safety glass products. Its products, which are manufactured in sites across the Netherlands, Spain and the UK, are sold in 40 countries. The company has 418 employees.

People
Soho Square – David Steel (director).
TFSG – Neil Tilsley (CEO).

Advisors
Vendor – David Steel (director) and Stuart Hamilton (principal), Rothschild (corporate finance), Addleshaw Goddard (legal), KPMG (financial due diligence) and LEK (commercial due diligence).

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

• Topics
• Exits
• Buyouts
• Industrials
• DACH
• UK / Ireland
• Secondary buyout
• Ergon Capital Partners
• United Kingdom
• Germany