Alexander Mann Solutions (United Kingdom) - Dec 2007

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01 December 2007

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Buyout deal

Graphite Capital has backed the £100m secondary management buyout of recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) company Alexander Mann Solutions (AMS) from Advent International. Graphite had been following the RPO market for some time given its attractive underlying trends and future growth prospects. Graphite has a successful track record in recruitment and outsourcing businesses throughout economic cycles with previous investments including technical recruitment company NES, recruitment communications business TMP Worldwide and managed outsourcing staffing services group Aktrion. Graphite believes that the general trend by blue-chip companies to outsource their recruitment functions should continue even in a more difficult economic environment. Graphite won an auction process run by RW Baird. Graphite’s extensive track record in the sector, understanding of the AMS business model and strong rapport with management were very important factors in it winning the deal. The ability to complete the transaction within eight days was also considered key.

Graphite invested approximately £50m from its latest fund, Graphite Capital Partners VII which closed in May 2007 with commitments totalling £555m, to support the deal. HSBC underwrote the senior debt and invoice discounting facilities which were used to finance the buyout. Management re-invested a significant proportion of their proceeds from the previous deal. Exit deal

Advent International invested £25m to fund the growth of IT staffing business Alexander Mann Group in 1999 (5 July 1999, page 12). Advent hired RW Baird to conduct an auction process to facilitate its disposal of the business.

Company

Founded in 1996, AMS is the largest independent provider of recruitment process outsourcing solutions to blue-chip companies worldwide. AMS provides clients with integrated processes throughout the resourcing and recruitment cycle from the initial hiring stage through to outplacement. It creates an efficient, cost effective and competitive recruitment operation with better candidates, improved retention rates, enhanced employee productivity and increased job satisfaction. The London-headquartered business has offices in Europe, including Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas and serves clients in more than 50 countries. The company has a staff of 900 serving 28 clients. It generated turnover of £340m in the year to September 2007. Following the buyout, AMS will capitalise on that growth by developing new products and services, expanding into additional geographical areas and building its presence in new industry sectors.

People

Mike Tilbury, Jenny Michelman, Simon Ffitch, Mudassir Khan and John O’Neill managed the transaction for Graphite. John Singer led the exit deal for Advent International. AMS was founded by chief executive Rosaleen Blair, the Veuve Clicquot 2007 Business Woman of the Year. Andrew Mantle and Rebecca Parrott led the deal for HSBC.

Advisers

Purchaser - Close Brothers, Matthew Swan, Simon Chambers (Other Consulting)Purchaser - Ernst & Young, Alan Millar, Anthony Vickery, Pauline Chung (Corporate Finance)Purchaser - Everest , Paul Knowles (Commercial Due Diligence)Purchaser - Marsh, Louise Perry (Insurance Due Diligence)Purchaser - Olswang, Fabrizio Carpanini (Legal)Vendor - McFarlanes, Ian Martin, Rob Collard, Robert Block (Legal)Vendor - PricewaterhouseCoopers, Euan Cameron, Maciej Grygiel, Richard Green (Other Due Diligence)Vendor - RW Baird, Bret Schoch, Brian Doyal, David Silver, Matt Kessler, Nick Cardoza, Peter Augar (Corporate Finance)