Robert Whiteside is leading the £60 million MBO
A £60 million management buyout led by group chief executive officer, Robert Whiteside, is set to proceed after received backing from private equity firm Endless LLP.
HSBC Bank will be providing acquisition finance and working capital facilities to support the deal.
Mr Whiteside commented, ‘Adare’s proposition has evolved significantly in recent years through continual development of our products and services and geographic expansion; as a result we now trade, globally, on every continent and service customers in over 50 countries. We feel, however, that there is still huge potential yet to be realised and with Endless as our sponsors, we can now accelerate our ambitious growth plans through investment in people, technology and infrastructure. Importantly, Endless have also made it quite clear that they are willing to support us with strategic acquisitions, both home and abroad, which will enable us to add significant value to our customers and help them to deliver their strategic and commercial objectives.
‘We were impressed with Endless from the outset because of the time they were willing to invest, up front, in getting to know the business and the management team. Throughout the process they showed unwavering eagerness to support the Adare team and our strategic aspirations which was refreshing and very encouraging. Endless’ straight-talking and focused approach was so compelling we saw no merit in discussing this opportunity with any other private equity investors.’
Chris Clegg, managing director at Endless, added, ‘We were immediately attracted to Adare by its outstanding management team, its extensive, global blue chip customer base and its industry-leading technology platform. Adare is a great business and we expect to be supporting Robert and the team in a number of transformational acquisitions in the future. This is a very exciting time to be backing the business in view of its strategic aspirations and we are delighted Robert and his team chose Endless to be their partner.’
