UK lower mid-market group Mobeus Equity Partners has concluded its fifth buyout exit this year, with an average money multiple in 2020 of 3.3 times its investments, the firm said. Two of these deals were announced this week.
As the pandemic crushes returns and delays exits, the firm doesn’t have many reasons to complain. Its latest portfolio offloading, Vectair, an aircare and hygiene products company, generated 8.4x returns on the sale to US investors. Mobeus, which usually invests under £50m per deal, declined to disclose precise financial details.
The firm first invested in Vectair in 2006 and claims to have helped grow its revenues by more than four and a half times, and profits by eightfold over the period. Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, and with an office in the UK, the company has manufacturing facilities around the world to supply over 130 countries with its products.
Earlier this week, Mobeus completed the sale of its stake in Advantedge, a provider of invoice finance facilities to SMEs, in a deal valued between £35m and £40m, a person familiar with the situation told Private Equity News.
The exit comes four years after the firm first invested in Advantedge. Its sale to ECapital, a US-based provider of alternative financial solutions to businesses, generated a 2.7x return and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 30%.
Since Mobeus backed Advantedge, the business has expanded, with revenues growing 2.4x and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation doubling over the period, the firm said without providing the figures. Advantedge, founded in 2001 in the UK, has also made one add-on acquisition in this period and launched two new offices, in Scotland and the Midlands, making up a total of nine locations now.
The Advantedge deal is the first exit from Mobeus Equity Partners Fund IV, a vehicle that held a final close on £166m in August 2017. The fund, which is being invested at the moment, typically writes equity cheques between £5m and £15m to invest in British businesses with Ebitda of £1m – £5m.
Other recent exits include the sale of security devices manufacturer Access-IS to US trade buyer HID, in August, and Auction Technology Group, an online platform for auctions, in February.
Source: Private Equity News
