Graphite makes 3.5x on Alexander Mann Solutions sale

Alice Murray
31 October 2013

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Graphite Capital has sold Alexander Mann Solutions (AMS) for ТЃ260m to New York-based New Mountain Capital, reaping a 3.5x return on its initial investment.

Graphite acquired talent acquisition and management services business AMS in December 2007 from Advent International for £100m. Advent had invested £25m in the company in 1999.

The 2007 transaction saw Graphite investing £50m from its Graphite Capital Partners VII vehicle, with HSBC providing a debt package to finance the deal.

In February 2008, Graphite supported AMS's acquisition of Capital Consulting, a European recruitment processes outsourcing business.

Company
AMS operates through long-term contracts with international clients, providing recruitment and consulting services to aid in attracting, engaging and retaining employees. The company was founded in 1996 by CEO Rosaleen Blair.

Under Graphite's stewardship AMS has doubled its net fee income to £100m in 2012, with staff numbers growing from 900 to just less than 2,000.

Clients include Rolls-Royce, Deloitte, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Freshfields, Microsoft and Vodaphone. The company supports its clients in more than 75 countries through its client service centres in the UK, the US, Poland and the Philippines. It has regional offices in London, New York, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Melbourne.

People
Rosaleen Blair is CEO of AMS. Senior partners Mike Tilbury and Simon ffitch, alongside partners Jenny Michelman and Mudassir Khan, managed the transaction for Graphite.

Advisers
Vendor – Robert W Baird, David Silver (Corporate finance).