Farrow and Ball Holdings
Deal Summary
Catalyst advised the management team of Farrow & Ball on a management buy-out funded by European Capital in a deal valued at £80 million.
Farrow & Ball is the leading luxury brand in paint and wallpaper, renowned for its timeless range of colours and traditional wallpaper patterns.
The Business designs and manufactures the highest quality products at Wimborne in Dorset, which are then marketed and sold through multiple sales channels including its own showrooms, the internet and independent retailers throughout the UK, Western Europe and North America.
What difference did we make?
The vendors' intention was to appoint an advisor to sell the business through an auction process. Our role was to ensure that the objectives of the management team were achieved in the sales process without compromising the objectives of the vendor.
This was achieved by working closely with the vendors and their advisors. We agreed that the best way to deliver everyone's objectives was to write a business plan rather than a sales document.
Catalyst worked closely with the management team to prepare a detailed business plan for a buy-out of the business from the existing private shareholders.
The business had been successfully managed by a highly entrepreneurial management team and had experienced significant growth in recent years.
A new Group Chief Executive had been recruited to lead the buy-out and the key challenge was to work together to ensure that the appropriate information systems and controls existed in the business in order to transition the business from a privately owned, cash rich situation into a highly leveraged, private equity backed environment.
The business plan was a key document as it reduced the risk profile of the transaction and correspondingly ensured that the objectives of the vendors and the management team were delivered.
Furthermore the business plan positioned the management team as the key party in the process and correspondingly gave them full visibility of the vendors' process and the ability to influence the selection of the preferred private equity firm.
[We note with regret the sad death of Josh Layish, CEO of Farrow & Ball in 2008]
