09/03/2010 - Management buy-out for Raymond Brown Group
The Hampshire-based Raymond Brown Group has just undergone a management buy-out, it was announced today (WED 24 Feb).
The £60m turnover construction, civil engineering and minerals and recycling business based in Ringwood and employing 350, has been successfully bought for an undisclosed sum by its senior management team led by MD Kelvin White.
The transaction will enable the award-winning group to build on the strong family ethics it has nurtured since 1953 while providing a strong and robust platform to drive the business forward.
Kelvin White said: “I am delighted that the MBO has been successful. We had been looking at the best options for the business – ensuring that we maintain the traditional Raymond Brown culture of honesty, integrity, hard work, respect and quality. This has been the bedrock of the business for nearly 60 years and certainly the driver for its success.
“So we took the decision to buy the business as a team and keep the ‘family feel’. It is very much business as usual.
“Each of the shareholders has worked as an integral part of the business for some years – we all know and understand the culture and the people who have made it such a great business to date. Our aim now is to continue to build on those values, take the business forward and maintain our position at the forefront of the market.”
Corporate finance and tax advisers to the management team were Southampton-based Grant Thornton led by Simon Davies. He said: “This is a hugely successful business and I am delighted that we have been able to work with management to deliver a solution that is acceptable to the family shareholders and management alike. The business has a fantastic market position and excellent future prospects.”
Funding was provided by RBS with Grant Paramor and Christine Aplin also helping to make the transaction a successful one.
The new team also includes Mark Isaac, Stuart Harris, Steve Clasby, Andrew Woodward, John Currie and Chris Craufurd. Family members Sue and Fiona Brown also remain as shareholders together with Ron Isaac as both shareholder and Chairman.
The announcement comes on the back of another very successful year for Raymond Brown having recently been awarded the prestigious Family Company of the Year at the Dorset Business Awards.
The Group’s companies include Raymond Brown Construction, Raymond Brown Minerals and Recycling, Raymond Brown Building and Wilkins Builders. Its activities range from civil engineering, waste infrastructure and aggregates extraction to cutting-edge inert recycling, housebuilding and development.