Arle, AlpInvest and GSCP portfolio company Expro divests business

The C&M business, which was sold to Siemens, was valued at $630m.

Expro CEO Charles Woodburn commented that the company had received a number of unsolicited indications of interest for the C&M business last year. He mentioned that the net proceeds would be used for debt repayments and to support future growth.

Previous funding
Arle Capital Partners, Cinven, Equistone Partners Europe, and Montagu Private Equity took a £36m equity stake in a £63m buyout of Expro in 1992. A £25m senior debt package was arranged by Bank of Scotland.

The company was floated on the London Stock Exchange in March 1995, after being postponed due to turbulent conditions the previous year. Although none of the equity investors sold their stakes at the time, the flotation was valued at £103m.

In 2008, a consortium consisting of Arle (then Candover), AlpInvest, and GSCP took Expro private again in a deal valued at £1.8bn. Debt was provided by Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB, Royal Bank of Canada, HSBC, and DnB Nor.

Company
Expro, founded in 1973, provides products and services to measure, improve, control, and process flow from oil and gas wells. Based in Great Yarmouth, UK, the company employs around 5,000 staff worldwide.

The Connectors & Measurements business provides design, manufacture, assembly, and installation of power and data connectors, and temperature and pressure sensors, for subsea environments. It employs 450 staff in the UK, Norway, the US, Brazil, and Malaysia. In 2011, the business had revenues of $119m.

People
Partner Mark Dickinson supported the deal on behalf of Arle Partners. Charles Woodburn is CEO of Expro.

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