Catalyst advise on the sale of Minivator to Handicare AS

Steve Currie (Catalyst) and Mike Lord (Minivator) celebrate success

Catalyst has acted as lead advisor on the sale of world-class manufacturer Minivator to Norwegian based Handicare AS.

Based in the Midlands, Minivator is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of stairlifts, which it sells in over 35 countries. Following a management buy-out in 2004 led by Chief Executive Mike Lord and backed by Gresham Private Equity, the management team doubled turnover, invested heavily in research and development and increased employee numbers by over 75% to more than 400.

Having advised on the original buy-out, we maintained a close working relationship with the management team and reviewed the exit strategy and timetable on a regular basis. Following a strategic review in September 2009, we advised the shareholders to start preparing for a the sale with the objective of selling the business in early 2010.

Handicare had been identified within our strategic review as an acquirer with a strong commercial rationale to complete a deal in the short term. This was based on market intelligence that had been gathered as part of a confidential pre-screening process which we perform in all of our major pieces of work. Therefore, in advance of a wider sales process, we immediately marketed the Business on an exclusive basis to Handicare, meaning that confidentiality could be maintained. In parallel with these discussions, preparations were completed to commence the sale of the business in early 2010 in the event that the sale of the business to Handicare was unsuccessful.

Steve Currie, the Partner at Catalyst who led the deal, commented, "We protected confidentiality by marketing the business to Handicare and no other trade buyers. Furthermore, based on our knowledge of the acquirer, we were able to deliver a strategic price for the shareholders that represented a double digit multiple on the current profitability of the business. This sales strategy meant we were able to complete the transaction successfully within 3 months of the completion of the strategic review and within 6 weeks of signing Heads of Agreement with Handicare."

For more on this deal see here