Cutting a great deal

BHP Corporate Finance is delighted to have acted as advisors to the exiting shareholders of the HPC Laser group via a management buyout.

HPC Laser Ltd, established in 2006, supplies an extensive range of high-quality CO2 and fibre laser engraving and cutting machines as well as CNC routers, and provides industry leading training and after sales service.  The business has supplied over 6000 machines throughout the UK and overseas, for numerous applications including to blue chip clients in the aerospace, automotive, technology and education sectors.  Based in Elland, Halifax, HPC Laser was set up by husband and wife team Chris and Charlotte Jacobs over 15 years ago and has delivered consistent growth in that time.  BHP worked with Chris and Charlotte in 2017 to introduce appropriate new investor managers to the company releasing significant equity value at that point.

This transaction sees Chris and Charlotte exit in full as the transition to the new management team is complete.  Thincats provided a significant, multi-million pound financing facility to the company to support the transaction and provide capital for future growth.

Andy Haigh at BHP Corporate Finance acted as lead advisor to the vendors for the transaction assisted by Amanda Waterhouse and Ryan Wilkinson (Tax advisory) and Alison Barnes (SPA advisory).

Chris Jacobs, founder said “Charlotte and I are very grateful to Andy and the team at BHP for the advice, support and results they have delivered realising significant equity value from our business.  They have been with us at every step of the journey from positioning the company, helping us understand our options, negotiating strongly on our behalf and delivering the successful outcome.  Impressively, their advice was delivered seamlessly, drawing in specialist support from their tax and SPA advisory teams to obtain the best possible outcome.  We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend BHP Corporate Finance.”

Andy Haigh, partner at BHP Corporate Finance commented: “We are delighted to have assisted Chris and Charlotte with their exit from HPC Laser.  They’ve built a solid and highly profitable company with a well-respected brand thus creating a fantastic platform for the management team to further develop the market opportunity.”