Blackstone acquires Inflexion's ISD

The deal, which is understood to have valued ISD at below £200m, is believed to have taken around six months to complete and was the result of a competitive bidding process.

Under Inflexion’s tenure, the company has undertaken both an organic and acquisitive growth strategy, bolting on Deramores and Craft Channel Products.

ISD has also expanded into the US market via the launch of Ideal Shopping Channel. The business will continue to focus on expansion across the UK and US markets under its new owner.

The sale marks Inflexion’s seventh divestment of 2015, having most recently sold British consultancy Rhead Group to trade buyer Costain Group for £36m.

Previous funding
Inflexion acquired ISD in April 2011 in a take-private deal valuing the business at £78.3m.

Company
Headquartered in Peterborough and founded in the 1980s, ISD is a craft and hobbyist retailer operating across online and broadcast platforms. The business has a headcount of 800.

ISD has television channels on the Virgin Media, Sky and Freeview channels in the UK. It operates primarily under the Create & Craft and Ideal World brands.

People
Inflexion partner Tim Smallbone led the sale for the GP. Blackstone senior managing director Gerry Murphy, who was previously CEO of Kingfisher and Carlton Communications, will take on the role of chairperson at ISD. Mike Hancoxis is CEO of ISD.

Advisers
Equity – Duff & Phelps, Henry Wells (Corporate finance).
Vendor – DC Advisory, Richard Madden, Richard Pulford, Ben Thompson, Ryan Hallworth (Corporate finance).
Management – Clearwater International, Michael Reeves, Gareth Iley, Mark Gillingham (Corporate finance).

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• Topics
• Exits
• Buyouts
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• United Kingdom
• Blackstone Group
• Inflexion Private Equity