PAI acquires Europe division of TDR's VPS

Ellie Pullen
25 June 2014

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PAI partners has acquired VPS Holdings, the European division of TDR Capital portfolio company VPS Acquisitions, in a management buyout.

PAI invested in the company via its PAI Europe VI fund, which has a target of €3bn and held its first close in January this year on €1.4bn. The deal marks the fifth investment made through the fund.

The sale is valued in the region of £150m, according to Bloomberg.

TDR is retaining VPS's US division. The firm acquired a controlling stake in UK-headquartered VPS in March 2010 from Axial European Partners, according to unquote" data. A new management team was brought in following the transaction.

Company
VPS was founded in 2003 through the management buyout of Vacant Property Security by Ian Quinlan, with support from Henderson Capital. The company then spent seven years executing an acquisitive growth strategy through the takeovers of six businesses.

The company operates in both Europe and the US, with its headquarters located in Hertfordshire and bases in Paris, Berlin, Turin and Chicago.

The VPS group employs more than 1,500 staff, 900 of whom are in its European division, which is spread across 50 locations in France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain, Ireland and the UK. VPS's Europe division generates 50% of its revenues in the UK, 35% in France and 10% in the Netherlands.

The company is a specialist in vacant property management and security. It provides alarms, CCTV and security doors, as well as property management and maintenance services such as manned guards and live-in guard services.

People
Mark Silver is the CEO of the VPS group, while Anthony Owen is the managing director of VPS UK. Colm O'Sullivan is a partner at PAI.

Advisers
Equity – DC Advisory (Corporate finance); Travers Smith (Legal).
Vendor – Baird (Corporate finance); Linklaters (Legal).