T123 in debt-funded buy-out
Article Date: May 16 2008A Lancashire-based supplier of ground support equipment to airports has completed a management buy-out (MBO). The business, previously called Multipart Fleetserve, has been renamed T123 following its buy-out from the Multipart Group, a subsidiary of Imperial Holdings.
The MBO was funded by an asset-based finance package of £2.65 million, provided by Venture Structured Finance, a division of asset-based lender Venture Finance. The package comprised invoice finance, stock finance and a cashflow term loan.
Brian Sneyd, who set up the Multipart Fleetserve division in 2000, continues to run the business as managing director. He says funding the MBO with debt was preferable to giving away ‘large sums of equity’ in the business.
Sneyd adds: ‘With no traditional property assets, we were able to maximise our stock, contracts and debtor book to deliver the initial funding injection and ongoing working capital.’
T123 is now planning to expand in the UK and Europe.
The company supplies its products to baggage carriers as well as operators of trucks and elevators at airports. An additional business is the provision of parts for specialist vehicle fleets such as that of the London Fire Brigade.
