Forging Ahead
David Forrest, John Longstaff and Kevin Davies, from BHP Corporate Finance acted as lead advisors to the management team in structuring and arranging the deal. Senior debt and working capital facilities to support the transaction were provided by Barclays Corporate.
IFA was originally formed in March 2001 by Martin Burnham and Andy McGuinness following the management buy-in of the open die forging division of Doncasters plc. The company has developed to become a leading supplier of high integrity forged produc ts to blue-chip, multinational customers in premium quality approved markets, such as aerospace, oil & gas and power generation. Since the original management buy-in IFA has grown substantially and now has annual turnover in excess of £17 million and employs over 120 people.
The deal sees the management team of Andy McGuinness, Craig Syson and Gareth Davies acquire a majority stake in the business for a substantial undisclosed sum. The deal also involved providing a successful exit for YFM Equity Partners and sees Martin Burnham significantly reducing his shareholding whilst continuing in his role as Chairman.
Completion of the deal represented a highly satisfying conclusion to a lengthy period of planning and preparation. John Longstaff commented: “This transaction demonstrates that with a strong management team, appropriate structuring and thorough preparation deals of this type can be executed. IFA is one of the region’s marquee names in manufacturing and it has been a pleasure working with the management team. We are delighted to have achieved an excellent result for all parties”.
Andy McGuinness commented on a deal which sets the foundation for exciting growth at IFA: “With all the doom and gloom in the financial sector it is reassuring that there is still confidence in UK manufacturing to support this MBO, and why shouldn’t there be? We have international customers in industry sectors with strong order books that require manufacturing skills which UK companies like ourselves can provide.”
David Hall of exiting shareholder YFM Equity Partners also commented: “We are delighted by the progress that IFA has made since we invested, and it is really pleasing to see the management team buy-out the business to take it on to the next stage of growth. Great credit needs to be given to them and BHP Corporate Finance, who have excelled in bringing this transaction about”.
IFA is a great example of a business which is a real success story for the region, and we are delighted to be associated with it. As David Forrest explained: “IFA often describe themselves (somewhat self-deprecatingly!) as ‘the UK’s biggest blacksmith’ but it is much more than that – it is an outstanding business. As John said earlier it is one of the region’s marquee names in manufacturing and it is a pleasure to have delivered this deal which allows the team to take it to the next level. We look forward as a firm to helping them on this journey.”