Yorkshire Bank backs MBO of energy management company

25/07/2011

Vickers Electronics Limited, a specialist in energy management systems, has undergone a £7.2m management buy-out backed by venture capitalist EV and PHD Equity Partners LLP and with funding from Yorkshire Bank Corporate & Structured Finance.

The deal gives control of the business to a management team led by David and Alison Hilton, who are joined by incoming Chairman, Ian Cameron.

Vickers Electronics, which was founded in 1991 and has 29 employees, is based in Trafford Park, Manchester. It designs, installs and maintains energy management systems which regulate temperature in large commercial premises. The company’s clients, which currently include Stagecoach, Magnet and Boots, are guaranteed savings on their heating bills and on average achieve reductions of over 40 per cent.

Its key product, the Vickers Energy Management System, is the only one of its type to have won The Queen’s Award for Environmental Achievement, an approval which is unique in the energy control market. 

The Yorkshire Bank team was led by Ian Mansell and Al-Munther Sultan, Director and Associate with Corporate & Structured Finance in Birmingham. Ian Mansell said, “Rising gas prices and the need to reduce carbon emissions are driving uptake of energy management systems. With almost half a million factories and warehouses in the UK, there is a huge potential market and the new management team is keen to expand into other areas such as offices and play centres. The support of EV will help them take advantage of these opportunities”.

David Hilton, Managing Director of Vickers Electronics, commented, “Vickers is a long-established business with a strong management team and this step in our development, with the introduction of new expertise, allows us to increase the rate of development of new products and move into new markets whilst maintaining our core client base and continuing to provide the nationwide engineering back-up that ensures long-term customer satisfaction”.

Wayne Thomas, Investment Director at EV who led the deal, commented, “We have worked closely with the management team of Vickers over the last few months to assist them in completing the MBO. The team has worked extremely hard to develop the company’s products and market position and the business is now, in our opinion, well positioned to benefit from the positive drivers impacting on its market.”

Craig Richardson, who led the deal for PHD Capital, said, “David and Alison have developed an excellent position in the energy management sector; this is an industry in which we already have experience. We are really excited to be able to help them continue to grow the business".

Dow Schofield Watts LLP in Manchester provided corporate finance advice to the management team. Legal advice was provided to EV by the team at the Manchester office of Pinsent Masons LLP, led by Andrew Phillips. RSM Tenon provided advice to the vendor. Andrew Madden at Gateley in Birmingham advised Yorkshire Bank Corporate & Structured Finance.