A manufacturer of medical devices has been acquired in a management buyout and supported by private equity firm, Traditum.
This buyout, led by Entaco Ltd’s managing director, Steve Brown who will now take the role of group chief executive and drive the business forward as it targets over 50% growth to £15m turnover.
Entaco Group comprised of, John James Needles, Entaco Medical Devices, and Redditch Medical.
Traditum has invested more than £1m to fund both consideration to the shareholders and provide growth capital for the business.
Traditum was supported with legal advice from Mills and Reeves, with Paul Johnson and Nina Latham on the team.
Sanderson Weatherall gave property advice to Traditum, with Guy Owen as counsel for this.
“Property elements of deals can often be overlooked or left until the last minute. It is crucial that all parties understand the significance of the property element in good time.”
Q&A with Guy Owen
Guy, can you expand on this project, what were the main pieces of advice which Traditum required for this buyout?
It was crucial for Traditum to understand the level of financial and business continuity risk that was being carried as a result of the condition of the buildings the business was operating from and also the obligations placed on the business by the terms of the commercial leases in place.
We undertook a detailed review of the leases and combined this with a detailed inspection of the properties forming part of the MBO to provide dilapidation assessment reports setting out the key risks, leasehold liabilities and an outline commercial strategy focussing on how to mitigate these risks as and when they would occur. We provided a financial summary based on current construction market rates for the key elements of disrepair that would need to be addressed under the terms of the various leases.
During this project were there any challenges you faced and if so were these typical of the situation, how did you address any issues?
The survey element itself was fairly straightforward due to our extensive experience in providing commercially focused property and dilapidations advice. We have previously completed similar projects for members of the Traditum team and they were aware of our expertise in this area from the outset.
Due to the significant size of the buildings and difficulties associated with gaining safe access to high level areas we deployed one of our fleet of 4k camera drones to obtain images of the roof and high level areas. This provided numerous benefits to both us as surveyors and the client. We obtained ultra-high-resolution images of areas that would be dangerous to inspect on foot without specialist access equipment, which in turn meant we passed on time and access cost savings to the client. We also provided detailed imagery within our reports in order that any future roof maintenance works could be planned.
Can you tell us what made Sanderson Weatherall and your personal expertise the most suitable for this project, how does your experience benefit the client?
We have a great deal of experience across all parts of the UK and Ireland, providing commercial dilapidations advice and general building consultancy services.
By leveraging our experience and by employing the latest inspection technology we were able to provide detailed and accurate assessment reports for each of the properties. We identified significant risk items that could then be used as part of the wider negotiation of the buyout deal. Having an in depth understanding of the mechanics of commercial dilapidations claims enabled us to provide accurate and commercially focused advice both within our reports and during subsequent follow up advice.
When commercial rented property forms part of a management buyout or any major business transaction, the seemingly small property element of the overall deal can have a significant impact on the value of the underlying business. Property aspects of deals can often be overlooked or left until the last minute and it is important for all parties to understand the significance of the property element in good time.
What support does the client receive from you throughout and post buyout to ensure their success?
As a business one of our core values is providing the highest possible levels of customer service. We are a unique business in our sector and one of the few Partner owned consultancies of our size which translates to us being able to deal with large and complex projects and deals, while also being small enough to provide a truly personal and bespoke service, our company moto “The approachable alternative” sums up what we are about.
Traditum and Entaco have access to any of the Partners at Sanderson Weatherall whenever required and all work we undertake from the smallest valuation instruction to multi-million-pound development schemes is always Partner led from start to finish.
Our ongoing support is not limited to Commercial Building Surveying and dilapidations advice, we are an effective one-stop property consultancy, and we offer a wide range of professional services including Architecture, Valuation, Business Rates Consultancy, Property Management and Facilities Management.