Aztec completes slick acquisition
BHP Corporate Finance is delighted to have acted as lead advisor to Aztec Oils on its acquisition of Multispec Limited (formerly Caldo Oils) for an undisclosed sum.
Aztec is one of the UK’s leading industrial lubrication specialists. It manufactures and distributes high performance lubricants to a wide range of sectors and is fully committed to building long-term relationships with its ever-growing number of worldwide customers. Combined turnover of the enlarged business will be in excess of £30m in 2020.
The terms of the acquisition will see Aztec continue to operate Caldo’s manufacturing facilities in St Helens (Merseyside) along with distribution operations in Newton Abbot (Devon) and Rhuddlan (North Wales).
We have acted for Derbyshire based Aztec for several years and this latest acquisition further enhances its capabilities in its chosen sectors. John Longstaff and John Warner acted as lead advisors in relation to the acquisition and assisted in negotiating the terms of the deal, carried out financial due diligence on Multispec, led the fundraising process and project managed the deal through to completion. Tax advice was provided by Mark Cooper and Katherine Taylor from BHP’s tax team.
Mark Lord, Managing Director of Aztec commented “This venture really excites us. It gives us a great opportunity to develop our retail packaged range, by continuing to offer Aztec’s established branded products and at the same time growing our private label offering”.
Janis Hartshorne, Finance Director of Aztec, went on to say “This deal was different from any other deals we had done previously, so the help and assistance from BHP was important to us and proved to be of massive help. They handled all aspects of the due diligence from start to finish. They also gave us total support from an advisory point of view, particularly in the final days during the deal negotiations and long after the deal was completed. We couldn’t have been more pleased with the service we received”.
John Longstaff, director, commented, “We are delighted to have advised Aztec on this strategic acquisition. Multispec is a perfect fit and I am confident that Mark and the team at Aztec will maximise the benefit of the opportunities afforded to the enlarged group.”
John Warner, partner, concluded by saying “This transaction highlights the ability we have at BHP to call on colleagues from different specialisms to deliver a seamless service to our clients. It has been a pleasure for us to be part of Aztec’s journey over the past few years and we look forward to helping the management team with its ambitious growth plans going forward”.
This deal completed at the end of an extremely busy 2019 for BHP Corporate Finance. With continued healthy dealflow, we look forward to announcing more completions in the coming months.
