AEA buys NES from Graphite for £234m

Amy King
05 October 2012

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AEA Investors has acquired technical recruitment group NES Global Talent from Graphite Capital for ТЃ234m.

The firm's chief executive hopes that AEA's experience in the oil and gas industry will support the company's plans for international expansion.

Previous funding
Bridgepoint acquired NES for around €80m in 1999. Graphite backed the £86m MBO of the company in 2006 in a transaction supported by debt from Royal Bank of Scotland.

Company
Founded in 1978 and based in Cheshire, NES Global Talent is a technical recruitment group that places contract engineers and project managers with blue-chip clients in sectors including oil and gas, power and infrastructure.

Under Graphite's stewardship, the firm has more than doubled its net fee income and tripled its EBITDA. The firm has also opened 20 new offices, taking the total to 32, and doubled its staff numbers to 450. NES has around 5,000 contractors in 62 countries.

People
Mike Tilbury, Jenny Michelman and Simon ffitch worked on the transaction for Graphite. Neil Tregarthen is chief executive of NES Global Talent.

Advisers
Vendor – Olswang, Fabrizio Carpanini, Carsten Greve (Legal); Robert W Baird, David Silver, Peter Augar (Corporate finance); Ernst & Young, Richard Harding (Financial due diligence).