Another High Voltage Deal from Livingstone

January 2006

Baineport Engineering Services Ltd, the company founded in 1996 by a team of former Eastern Electricity professionals who identified the opportunities created by the downsizing and outsourcing strategies of the regional electricity companies, has been sold to Spice Holdings plc in a £5 million transaction.

Baineport has built an excellent reputation over the past ten years for the provision of engineering services including electrical network design, installation, testing commissioning and maintenance for Distribution Network Owners and large Commercial and Industrial clients. More than 170 staff operate from offices in Ely, Grantham and Crewe.

In Autumn 2005, following a direct approach from Spice Holdings plc (who had recently acquired Lamva Ltd, a competitor of Baineport) the founding shareholders Steve Wright and Paul Johnson appointed London corporate finance boutique Livingstone to assess the implications of a sale to Spice and the likelihood of deliverability of a successful transaction on attractive terms.

The Livingstone team headed by Nigel Morgan and Tim Lyle investigated the feasibility of the sale and went on to carry out all negotiations on behalf of the shareholders, bringing the deal to completion in little more than four months.

Nigel Morgan says: “Steve and Paul had overseen a steady growth of the company, producing increased year on year turnover and profits which made Baineport an attractive proposition for an acquisitive organisation such as Spice. This enabled us to achieve the optimal deal for shareholders in a short time frame, whilst ensuring the continuity of the Baineport business and its brand, and the safeguarding of the employee base.”

Steve Wright, majority shareholder comments: “Livingstone were instrumental in structuring a deal that provided shareholders with a clean exit, whilst ensuring a tight timetable could be met. Paul and I were confident from an early stage in negotiations that the deal was likely to happen and that Spice were going to deliver on the terms that the Livingstone team were able to negotiate on our behalf.”

Tim Lyle, Partner
Tel: 020 7484 4710
Email: tlyle@livingstonepartners.co.uk

Nigel Morgan, Director
Tel: 02 7484 4733
Email: nmorgan@livingstonepartners.co.uk