HIG Europe backs Kondor MBO

Kondor marks HIG Europe's first investment from its HIG Europe Capital Partners II fund, which closed on €825m in July last year, less than three months after launch.

HIG and the management team at Kondor, led by chief executive Robert Haycock, purchased the company from founder Malcolm Bartlett.

HIG specialises in management-led buyouts of manufacturing or services businesses, typically investing in the SME market in companies with an enterprise value of $50-500m.

Following the investment, Kondor intends to expand its business ventures in Europe and internationally.

Company
Founded in 1994 by chairman Malcolm Bartlett, Kondor supplies accessories such as headphones, cases and speakers to the UK and European smartphone and tablet retail markets. Kondor partners with brands including Beats by Dr Dre, Skullcandy, Sony and Samsung.

The company employs 200 people at its headquarters in Christchurch, Dorset, and has a sourcing office in Hong Kong, which ships up to 270,000 units per week. The accessories provider supplies 11,000 stores in the UK and 7,500 European outlets with more than 10,000 different products.

Kondor supplies high-street stores including John Lewis, Tesco, Carphone Warehouse and Argos, while its e-commerce platform also allows it to integrate with online operations on websites such as Amazon and eBay.

Kondor expects to generate revenues of more than £100m in 2014.

People
Paul Canning is managing director of HIG. Kondor's chief executive is Robert Haycock.

Advisers
Management - DLA Piper (Legal); Javelin (Commercial & operational due diligence); Futuresource (Commercial due diligence); KPMG (Financial due diligence, tax); Willis (Insurance due diligence); Intuitus (IT due diligence); Lincoln International and Spectrum Corporate Finance (Debt advisory).
Vendor - Deloitte (Corporate finance); PwC (Tax); Shoosmiths (Legal).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• United Kingdom
• HIG Europe