Electra acquires The Original Bowling Company for £91m

Under the new owner's stewardship, the UK-based company will look to expand through acquisitions and by investing in new sites.

Electra invested £51m of equity in the transaction, alongside the company's management.

Peter Boddy, previously managing director of gym group Fitness First and CEO of sport supplement brand MaxiNutrition, was appointed as non-executive chairman of TOBC following the deal.

The acquisition is Electra's second investment in the leisure industry in quick succession; last month the GP provided fresh capital to portfolio company Park Resorts to finance the SBO of UK-based holiday park company Eastern Parks.

Debt
GE, Barclays and Lloyds provided debt facilities to support the transaction.

Previous funding
In 2010, CBPE backed AMF Bowling's acquisition of Hollywood Bowl, taking a minority stake in the company through a £20m investment. Following the transaction, the group merged under the name The Original Bowling Company.

Company
Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Hemel Hempstead, TOBC is an operator of ten-pin bowling alleys primarily located in leisure and retail parks. The company runs 43 sites under the Hollywood Bowl and AMF brands and has a headcount of around 1,400.

People
Alex Fortescue is chief investment partner at Electra. Bill Priestley, a partner at the firm, led the deal alongside Ian Wood and Shakira Adigun-Boaye. Steve Burns is CEO of TOBC.

Advisers
Equity – CMS Cameron McKenna (Legal); KPMG (Financial due diligence); PwC (Tax, commercial due diligence)

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• Topics
• Consumer
• UK / Ireland
• Exits
• Buyouts
• United Kingdom
• Electra Partners LLP
• Electra Private Equity
• Secondary buyout