Inflexion’s Phenna valued at over £1bn through sale to Oakley Capital

Inflexion has scored a strong exit of testing and inspection business Phenna through a £1bn-plus sale to fellow private equity investor Oakley Capital.

The sale comes less than two years after Inflexion picked up Phenna through its £1bn Partnership Capital II fund, which is dedicated to minority investments.

Phenna comprises 31 businesses which provide specialist testing, inspection, certification and compliance services across infrastructure, built environment, niche industrial and pharmaceutical operations.

The sale is the first exit for Partnership Capital II and the firm’s 10th exit this year, with a combined value of more than £3.5bn.

During Inflexion’s ownership the company more than doubled its EBITDA and tripled headcount, thanks in part to 23 acquisitions across six countries.

Inflexion managing partner Simon Turner said, “Phenna’s leadership team created an excellent platform to create a global leader.

“Our significant sector expertise gained from other investments in the sector helped us to recognise the potential they could achieve, while our M&A experience served their ambition well.”

The deal is expected to close in Q4 this year.

Inflexion has been on an exits roll this year, most recently scoring a 25% IRR by selling medical affairs data and analytics provider Pharmaspectra.

In April the firm sealed a 3.5x return selling Marley Group to FTSE250-listed Marshalls.

Inflexion closed its sixth flagship fund on its £2.5bn hard cap in March this year, doubling the size of its previous flagship investment vehicle.

Source: AltAssets