Betts Global Ltd (United Kingdom) - Oct 2007

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01 October 2007

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Gresham Private Equity has backed the secondary management buyout of toothpaste tube manufacturer Betts Global Ltd from Permira, Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of Scotland. The total funding package for the deal was in excess of £110m, including working capital and capex facilities. The deal came about off-market after Gresham approached Betts’ shareholders directly. Gresham and Betts management invested a total of £35m in the newco alongside £75m of debt underwritten by CIT Capital Finance which included a £10m mezzanine facility. The growing demand for toothpaste, especially in emerging markets, and the strong relationship Betts has with its clients attracted Gresham to the deal. The deal provides Betts with significant capital in order to develop the business with opportunities to expand its capabilities into the personal care market and enter new market segments.

Exit deal

Permira did not comment on the returns. Permira backed the management buyout of three pharmaceutical and oral-care packaging businesses from Akzo Nobel to form newco Betts in 1998 (14 December 1998, page 13). Total financing raised for the transaction amounted to £103m of which £82m represented the acquisition consideration.

Company

Colchester-based Betts was formed more than 150 years ago and today supplies companies such as Colgate Palmolive, GlaxoSmithKline, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. The business produces printed laminate tubes for the oral healthcare market. Betts has more than 1,300 employees working from 14 sites in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, the UK and the USA.

People

Christian Bruning, Alistair Mills and Dan Hatcher led the deal for Gresham. Bruning and James Barbour-Smith join the board of the newco. Gresham has introduced Paul Bateman as a new chairman to the company. He was formerly group operations director for Boots. Graham Randell and Chris Jackson arranged the debt for CIT Commercial Finance Europe.

Advisers

Debt - Norton Rose LLP, Alexandra Triptree, Joshua Cairns , Michael Ings (Legal)Equity - Intuitus, Calum Stewart (Technical/IT AdviceUnspecified)Management - Osborne Clarke, Brian Rutherford, Justin Jones (Legal)Purchaser - Aon Mergers and Acquisitions Group, Peter Casciani (Insurance Due Diligence)Purchaser - Eversheds, Debbie Fuller, Rachel Broquard, Richard Moulton (Legal)Purchaser - KPMG, Craig Harrison, John Hughes (Financial Due Diligence)Purchaser - KPMG, George Lovell (Financial Due Diligence)Purchaser - The Quinn Partnership, Mike Stiles, Paul Quinn (Other Due Diligence)Purchaser - URS Corporation Ltd , Andreas King (Environmental Due Diligence)Purchaser - Wyvern, Anthony Gahan (Corporate Finance)Vendor - DLA, Andrew Holt (Legal)Vendor - Ernst & Young, Ken Williams, Terence Amako, Tim Morris, Tom Amies (Corporate Finance)