
A selection of our exits
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Harlands provides self-adhesive labelling solutions, primarily to the personal care, cosmetics, health and beauty and alcoholic beverages markets. In September 2003, Bridges Ventures, together with YFM, jointly backed the £4 million management buy-out of Harlands. Harlands had recently been in administration and the investment was to back the management team to complete a turnaround. A member of the Bridges Entrepreneur’s Club, who had built up and sold two successful beauty products companies, was appointed to the board Harlands has been based in Hull since 1832 and is in one of the 2% most deprived wards of England on the Index of Multiple Deprivation. The initial investment protected over 50 jobs and subsequently, new jobs were created as well. In June 2005, Bridges Ventures and YFM sold Harlands to trade buyer, the Clondalkin Group for £8.5m. The sale represented a money multiple of 3.3 x for investors and was a strategic purchase for Clondalkin Michele Giddens, Executive Director at Bridges Ventures said: |
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| www.harlands.co.uk | ||||
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SimplySwitch is an independent and free online and telephone based price comparison and switching service that offers consumers immediate, impartial information on the most economical and appropriate gas, electricity, home phone, broadband and mobile phone suppliers. SimplySwitch was one of our earliest investments and a start-up at the time of the initial commitment of £125K. We later followed our investment to a total of £345K and worked closely with the SimplySwitch management team to grow the company from an energy focused telephone based service to a highly successful multi-channel multi-product company. As a result of our investment, the company located itself in one of our target areas where the company created over 80 jobs. SimplySwitch also raised over £500k for charities with whom they had established affinity relationships. It was also the first service of its kind to be accessible by telephone as well as the web, making it easier for those who lack the resources or know-how to go online to save money on their household bills. In August 2006, Bridges Ventures sold SimplySwitch to The Daily Mail and General Trust plc for £22m. The exit returned £7.5m which represented a money multiple of c.22 x and IRR of 165% to investors. Karen Darby, Co-CEO SimplySwitch said: |
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| www.simplyswitch.com | ||||
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HS Atec is a distributor of new spare parts for heavy goods vehicles and trailers. The company stocks over 10,000 parts, which it delivers to customers using its own fleet of vehicles. Bridges Ventures originally invested £1 million in March 2003 in a combination of equity and loan stock to support a management buyout of the business. Following our investment, the business grew successfully, with sales rising from £7.1m in 2003 to £8.4m in 2006 and the business moving from loss to profit. In February 2007, the business was sold back to the management team. The return to investors was more than a 2x multiple, taking account of interest and dividends, and an IRR of 28.7% was achieved. Neil Fattorini from HS Atec said: |
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| www.hsatec.co.uk | ||||
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