No meshing about
BHP Corporate Finance is delighted to have acted as lead advisor to the management team of Siddall & Hilton Products Limited on their multi-million pound acquisition of the company.
Siddall & Hilton Products has been family owned since it was founded in 1898. The company now employs 74 people and is a global leader in the production and distribution of welded wire mesh (including fencing panels) which it sells to distributors and fencing system suppliers throughout the UK and overseas. It is also a long established manufacturer of springs for the furniture industry.
The world is going through an uncertain time, with terrorist atrocities and civil war resulting in governments and big business needing to take steps to protect their citizens. Controlling the movement of people and denying access to critical infrastructure are therefore becoming ever more important issues around the world, hence high quality fencing and mesh systems are very much in demand.
The management team of Neil Stewardson (Managing Director) and Ian Thurley (Finance Director), have been highly successful in ensuring that Siddall & Hilton Products has the necessary products, network and business processes in place to take advantage of this increased demand. It was therefore important to them that the funding package they used to acquire the company had sufficient headroom and flexibility to support projected growth, both in the short and medium term.
True to form, we did not sit on the fence(!) with our advice and in addition to advising on price and deal structure negotiations, we raised a bespoke funding package which allowed the management team to retain 100% of the equity of the company whilst providing ‘dry powder’ to support future growth.
Neil Stewardson stated “We would like to thank BHP Corporate Finance who played a key role as lead advisor and for their professionalism in delivering a bespoke funding package. They introduced us to PNC Business Credit who shared the belief and vision we have in our business plan. We have a great team of people at Siddall & Hilton Products Ltd and we are all hungry for further growth”.
The BHP Corporate Finance team on this transaction comprised Hamish Morrison, Andy Haigh and Will Holmes. Andy Haigh, director, commented: “It has been a pleasure advising Neil and Ian on this significant transaction and they deserve every success having built a fantastic business and a great platform for the future.
We are delighted that we were able to arrange a debt package which not only funds the transaction but also provides the management team with the firepower to continue to grow the business”.
Our deal activity continues to be at a high level and we hope to bring you further good news before the end of the year.