Inspired Energy acquires an initial 40 per cent of Ignite Energy

inspired-logo4Inspired Energy plc has acquired an initial 40 per cent share of Ignite Energy Limited

Inspired are paying an initial £5.0 million to acquire the 40 per cent on a debt free, cash free, normalised working capital basis. A further consideration of up to £3.0 million may become payable in cash, subject to the achievement of financial performance targets for the year ending 31 December 2019. The Initial Consideration has been financed from the Inspired’d existing resources, with funding provided by a drawdown of the Group’s £12.5 million acquisition facility with Santander.

Inspired has an option, until 31 July 2021, to acquire the remaining 60 per cent off Ignite Energy. Details of the option agreement are below. Inspired’s Mark Dickinson (CEO) and Paul Connor (FD) will join the board of Ignite, which will consist of five people.

Ignite provides energy management solutions to large multi-site commercial energy users. Services include energy procurement, energy efficiency and optimisation services The business began trading in 2009 and is led by David and Ben Higgins. Headquarted in Wantage, Oxfordshire, Ignite employs 51 people based across 3 locations in the UK.

For the financial year ended 31 December 2018, Ignite had revenues of £12.41 million, profit before tax of £3.08 million and generated operating cash of £1.50 million. Net assets as at 31 December 2018 stood at £4.08 million.

Mark Dickinson, CEO of Inspired said: “We are delighted to conclude our strategic investment in Ignite, a business which is highly complementary to Inspired’s core Corporate Division. The Strategic Investment significantly broadens and accelerates our optimisation service offering. Ignite has proven itself, over many years, to be capable of achieving material improvements to the energy efficiency of its clients. Inspired currently has over 500 clients within the estate and energy intensive segments who meet the Ignite customer profile, and could benefit from the services that Ignite provides.”

OPTION AGREEMENT  

·      Under the Option Agreement, from completion until 31 July 2021, Inspired has an exclusive one-way call option to acquire the outstanding balance of 60 per cent of the issued share capital of Ignite (“Remaining Ignite Shares”).

·      Under the terms of the Option Agreement, Inspired will pay consideration for the Remaining Ignite Shares which equates to an enterprise value of 6.0x earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (“EBITDA”) (“Option Consideration”). 

·      The Option Consideration shall be based off a minimum EBITDA of £3.0 million, and at the time of exercising the Option Agreement, an amount of £10.8 million will become payable by Inspired.

·      Should the EBITDA be greater than £3.0 million in either of the scenarios shown below, then additional consideration will become payable by Inspired, being the higher of:

–  6.0x Ignite’s EBITDA for the last 12 months ending on the date of the exercise of the option under the Option Agreement, or;

–  6.0x Ignite’s EBITDA for the financial year ending the year in which the option is exercised under the Option Agreement;

–  Less the £10.8 million already paid on exercise of the option, subject to a maximum EBITDA of £7.0 million.

·      Any  additional consideration due will be payable within 90 days following the end of the financial year in which the option agreement is exercised, Ignite’s financial year end is 31 December.

UK, Kirkham, Lancashire & Wantage, Oxfordshire

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The Monarch Partnership acquires EIC and T-Mac Technologies

MonarchUtilities management company The Monarch Partnership has acquired Energy Intelligence Centre (EIC) and T-Mac Technologies. EIC and T-Mac Technologies made up the corporate division of Utilitywise Plc, the energy and utilities brokerage business that went into liquidation in February 2019. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Monarch Partnership is a wholly owned subsidiary of Majestic Securities Limited, which also owns ESS Utility Consultants and Smith Bellerby. All 130 staff from EIC and T-Mac Technologies will join The Monarch Partnership. Following the acquisition, the combined group will have 250 employees and combined revenues of £20 million. In the year to March 2018, Monarch Partnership had profits after tax of £2.45 million. The Majestic Securities group had profit after tax of £2.65 million on a turnover of £6.47 million.

Utilitywise acquired EIC from Broadfern Partners in 2013. After the acquisition Utilitywise rebranded the company as Energy Intelligence Centre. It was previously called Energy Information Centre.

Fusion Corporate Partners had sold EIC to Broadfern Partners in September 2007

Acting for Euromoney Institutional Investor, Fusion Corporate Partners sold Energy Information Centre to Broadfern Partners in September 2007 for £4.7 million. EIC had been bought by Euromoney in October 2006 as part of its £22 million acquisition of metal market news service Metal Bulletin.

EIC was founded in 1975 and now supports over 1,000 industrial and commercial businesses and public sector organisations in managing their energy and water requirements. T-Mac Technologies provides energy management and intelligent buildings systems to help clients reduce and monitor their energy consumption. Both businesses will continue to trade under their existing brand identities and operate out of their headquarters in Redditch, supported by offices in Newcastle and Bury St Edmunds.

Peter Dosanjh, Chairman and CEO at The Monarch Partnership, said: “We are building a premier utility consultancy focused on helping our customers to become fully sustainable energy users. Our depth and breadth of expertise is unrivalled, and we are now working with colleagues and clients across the organisation to integrate the businesses and become the UK’s leading intelligent utilities partner. It is great to have Brin (Brin Sheridan, Managing Director of EIC and T-Mac) on board and welcome EIC and T-Mac to the Group.” 

UK, Wallington, Surrey & Redditch, Worcestershire

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Marlowe acquires waste water solutions business Atana for up to £5M

 

Marlowe+PLC+logoMarlowe plc, the support services group, has acquired Atana Limited for up to £5 million.

Founded in 2001, Atana is a provider of wastewater treatment solutions to commercial organisations across the UK. Atana provides recurring services which ensure compliance with wastewater discharge regulations and reduce waste disposal costs. The business is headquartered in Leicestershire and employs around 20 staff.

AtanaFor the year to 31 December 2017, Atana had revenues of £5.1 million, profit before tax of £0.5 million and net assets of £0.4 million. The total enterprise value will comprise an upfront cash consideration of £3 million and a cash earn-out expected to be in the region of £3 million and capped at £5 million for regulatory purposes. The achievement of the £3 million earn-out is dependent upon the business generating EBITDA of £1.4 million in the 12-month period to 31 December 2020.

Alex Dacre, Chief Executive of Marlowe plc, said:

“The acquisition of Atana accelerates Marlowe’s strategy of broadening the capabilities of our Water division across the entire regulated water management cycle. It enables us to provide additional water services to our customers and strengthens our competitive proposition and ability to cross-sell, both within and across our operating divisions.”

UK, London & UK, Coalville, Leicestershire

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Infopro Digital to acquire B2B publisher DOCUgroup

InfoPro DigitalInfopro Digital group is to enter into the acquisition of DOCUgroup, taking a major step in its international expansion. The acquisition will be financed with additional indebtedness, available cash on hand at the group level and an equity contribution from the shareholders of Infopro Digital group. The majority shareholder of Infopro Digital, alongside management of the group, is TowerBrook. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

DOCUgroup is a leader in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in business information for the construction, architecture and real estate industries.

DOCUgroup has two main activities: Project Information, whose flagship brand is IBAU, an online subscription platform that references almost 1 million private and public real estate projects; and Product Information, with leading brands such as Heinze and Baunetz, which are digital platforms that enable architects and planners to access databases and detailed information for over 500,000 products. These platforms attract around 15 million online visits each year.

Infopro Digital also offers services to professionals in the building industry in France, Belgium and the Netherlands through Le Moniteur and Vecteur Plus.

Over 500 employees will join the Infopro Digital group, to bring the total to more than 3,200 people worldwide. DOCUgroup generates a turnover of 67 million EUR, which will allow Infopro Digital to reach a turnover of approximately 440 million EUR once the acquisition is completed.

Christophe Czajka, Executive Chairman of Infopro Digital, said,“With the acquisition of DOCUgroup, we become a truly European BtB and Data company. The share of our turnover generated outside of France increased from 14% to 35% in less than a year. Over 1,300 group employees will be based in Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal, Austria, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, the United States, Hong Kong, and Tunisia.”

Julien Elmaleh, CEO of Infopro Digital, added, “The DOCUgroup DNA fits perfectly with that of Infopro Digital: databases and digital platforms allowing professionals to develop their commercial activity and have detailed and high quality business information. Combined, we will have an unmatched offer for professionals in the building industry”.

France, Ile-de-France & Germany, Munich

Arrow Business Communications acquires European Utility Management

arrow-communicationsArrow Business Communications has acquired European Utility Management Ltd, an Energy broker specialising in Property Development and Management companies. EUM will be integrated into Pulse Business Energy, the energy specialist division of Arrow.

London based EUM was founded by Stephen Perfect in 1998 and has successfully installed electricity and gas connections for temporary builders, landlord and commercial supplies, energy centres and domestic plots. The company also assists clients to minimise costs through bulk purchasing energy and reducing energy consumption.
All EUM employees will join Arrow, including Stephen who will become a member of the Pulse management team and play a key role in customer management.

Chris-Russell-CEO-of-Arrow-e1547117069161Chris Russell, CEO of Arrow commented, “We’re delighted to welcome Stephen and his team on board and equally excited to bring their skill set and market specialism to Pulse. We believe EUM’s customer focus and passion is a great fit for Pulse and look forward to offering those customers access to POD and the highest levels of customer service”.

UK, Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside & London

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Arrow Business Communications acquires Abica and PCR IT

arrow-communicationsArrow Business Communications has acquired Abica Ltd and it’s subsidiary PCR IT Ltd. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Abica and PCR are providers of Telecoms and IT services with offices in Glasgow. Arrow have previously made other acquisitions in the Scottish telecoms market, Orca Telecom in 2015 and Siebert Telecom in 2017.

All of the Directors and employees of Abica will be staying on and will work within the Arrow group. David Munro and Gregory Barnett, founders of Abica, will continue to lead a number of key customer relationships and day to day activities. Gregory Barnett comments, “With Arrow’s long history of building successful businesses in the telecommunications sector, we couldn’t be happier about integrating Abica into Arrow. It bodes well for an exciting future over the coming years”.

Abica has around 650 customers and has deployed a range of solutions covering Connectivity, Mobility, IoT, and Unified Communications for both private and public sector organisations. The recent acquisition of PCR IT brought further IT capability into its solution portfolio.

Chris-Russell-CEO-of-Arrow-e1547117069161Commenting on the acquisition, CEO of Arrow, Chris Russell said: “This was our third acquisition in 2018 and becomes our largest one to date. Abica further strengthens our presence in Scotland and combined with our existing business there will create a real Scottish Powerhouse. The Abica and PCR teams have a wealth of experience in delivering solutions to customers whilst maintaining the strong relationships they have built up over the years, which is exactly how we strive to conduct our business in Arrow”.

UK, Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside & Glasgow

Sovereign Capital Partners backs MBO of Utility Bidders

utility bidderPrivate Equity Buy & Build specialist Sovereign Capital Partners has backed the management buy-out of Utility Bidder, an energy broker, offering energy procurement services to UK, SME customers.  The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2009, and headquartered in Corby, Utility Bidder employs around 100 staff and has a sales office in Manchester. The company currently brokers energy and other utilities contracts to over 14,500 SME clients across a number of industry sectors in the UK.

sovereignUtility Bidder has performed strongly growing sales by over 40% in the current year. The team is led by an CEO, Chris Shaw; Sovereign has augmented the management team with the appointment of Mark Wood, formerly CEO of Axa UK, as non-executive Chairman. Founders James Longley and Sally Martin remain with the business, James as Utility Bidder’s MD.

Jeremy Morgan, Partner at Sovereign, said, “We are very pleased to be supporting this business and strong management team in what is a burgeoning market. Utility Bidder has already achieved tremendous success and enjoys established relationships with both its SME customer base and its energy suppliers.  We look forward to working with Chris and the team to help take this top ranked energy broker to the next stage of growth.”

UK, London & Corby, Northamptonshire

Marlowe acquires property health and safety consultancy William Martin valuing the business at up to £30M

Marlowe+PLC+logoMarlowe plc, the support services group, has acquired William Martin Compliance Solutions Limited and Ivor Roy Limited for an implied total enterprise value of £30.0 million.

Formed in 2004, William Martin is a leading technology-enabled UK provider of property-related health and safety audit and consultancy services. It provides recurring consultancy alongside a leading software-as-a-service compliance platform to a wide range of commercial customers across the UK to ensure regulatory compliance in areas such as health & safety, fire safety, water safety, asbestos management and contractor management. The business employs approximately 100 staff and has offices in London, Leeds and Norwich.

Through providing consultancy services integrated with Meridian, its proprietary software platform, William Martin enables customers to manage risk and statutory compliance across their properties. William Martin’s services significantly extend Marlowe’s capabilities towards providing its customers with a comprehensive approach to their health & safety and regulatory compliance needs, from initial audit through to full implementation, and are expected to generate significant cross-selling opportunities.

For the year to 30 April 2018, William Martin generated revenues of £7.5 million, EBITDA of £2.3 million at a margin of approximately 30%, and profit before tax of £2.4 million. Approximately 85% of William Martin’s revenues are recurring. As at period end, the business has net assets of approximately £2.3 million.

Alex Dacre, Chief Executive of Marlowe Plc, said, “The acquisition of William Martin significantly accelerates our strategy of providing our customers with a comprehensive one-stop approach to their health & safety and regulatory compliance needs. William Martin is a market leader which shares a similar channel to market with our existing businesses and benefits from strong relationships with customers who place a high value on the consultancy and software services. We are confident that this acquisition will generate attractive returns for Marlowe’s shareholders.”

UK, London

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Inspired to acquire energy procurement business Inprova Finance Limited for £19.5M

inspired-logo3Inspired, an energy procurement consultancy, has conditionally agreed to acquire Inprova Finance Limited (IFL) for £19.5 million in cash from Inprova Group Limited .

Inspired proposes to raise up to £19 million by way of a conditional placing of 115,151,516 new Ordinary Shares at 16.5 pence per Ordinary Share to finance the balance of the Consideration and associated advisory fees relating to the Acquisition.

IFL provides energy procurement and consultancy services to its help it customers buy energy efficiently and monitor and reduce their carbon footprint. The company has access to 19,000 meter points through over 1,000 customers. It operates in four main sectors – data centres, social housing, education and construction.

In the year ended 30 June 2018, IFL had revenues of £7.8 million and EBITDA of £2.9 million; at 30 June 2018, IFL’s order book stood at c.£11.6 million

Commenting on the proposed acquisition, Mark Dickinson, Chief Executive Officer of Inspired, said: “We are delighted to have agreed the acquisition of IFL and its group of energy businesses. This acquisition provides an opportunity to drive further growth from Inspired’s established platform and deliver value creation, both strategically and operationally, in addition to strengthening the Group’s position as a leading TPI in the UK and Ireland. We look forward to working with the team as we continue to accelerate our next phase of growth.”

In April 2015, Fusion completed the sale of two business to Inprova Group in two days: Two Fusion Deals in Two Days: The sale of energyTEAM and ENER-G Procurement – full story

UK, Kirkham, Lancashire & Warrington, Cheshire

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INSPIRED

Inprova Group

 

 

 

Inspired Energy acquires Professional Cost Management Group

inspired-logo3Inspired Energy, an energy procurement consultant to UK and Irish businesses, has acquired Professional Cost Management Group Limited (“PCMG”), a national cost recovery specialist, for up to £700,000Inspired Energy is making an initial cash payment of £150,000, with a potential further £550,000 subject to the achievement of targets based on future EBITDA performance. 

For the financial year ended 31 December 2017, PCMG had revenues of £2.84 million, EBITDA of £(0.17) million, and a net loss of £(0.19) million. Net assets as at 31 December 2017 stood at £0.7 million.

PCMG provides a forensic auditing service to identify and recover overpayments of utilities and telecoms bills on behalf of its clients and provides optimisation analysis to enable customers to improve their tariff and billing structure. The company was founded in 1993 and was acquired by Alma Consulting Group SAS (a subsidiary of the French Ayming Group) in March 2008.

The Managing Director of PCMG will remain with the enlarged Group after completion and Inspired Energy intends to incentivise the Managing Director and other key employees of PCMG by granting share options in the Group following completion. PCMG is based in Blackpool. The business will be relocated to Inspired Energy’s Kirkham head office on expiry of the current lease that runs to November 2018.

Commenting on the acquisition, Mark Dickinson, CEO of Inspired said: “We are delighted to conclude the acquisition of PCMG, which is a highly complementary addition to Inspired’s core Corporate Division. The PCMG team and brand are well respected within the sector.”

UK, Kirkham, Lancashire and Blackpool, Lancashire

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