ISIS sells SLR stake to 3i and realises over 6x

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3i has invested £32.5m for a significant minority stake in environmental consultancy SLR Holdings. 3i replaces ISIS Equity Partners as minority shareholder in a deal that values the company at approximately £100m. Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets has provided £29m of debt. SLR plans to grow organically in India, Australasia and through selective acquisitions in North America, with management planning to float the company in the medium term.

ISIS had been an investor in SLR for four years and has made a return of more than 6x its original investment. Oxford-based SLR is an international environmental consultancy and employs more than 650 people in 18 offices in the UK and 24 offices in North America. It focuses on the energy sector and counts blue-chip companies in the oil and renewable power sectors, the private sector waste management industry and the planning and development sectors among its customers.

SLR is an employee-controlled consultancy with more than 220 employee shareholders. For the year to October 2007, the company had revenues of £31.6m and EBITDA of £6.6m. These figures include the acquisitions of UK landscape, architecture and planning firm Insite Environments and Canadian environmental consultant Seacor Environmental.

3i partner Richard Bishop, who joins SLR's board as non-executive director, and Rupert Bell worked on the deal. ISIS's investment was led by Shani Zindel and Liz Jones. (Page 30).