Spaldings Holdings Limited / Marubeni Corporation

Cavendish is delighted to have advised on the sale of Spaldings, a leading UK national distributor of replacement and consumable parts for the land management sector. Marubeni Corporation (“Marubeni”) of Japan has purchased a majority controlling interest with a minority equity stake retained by the existing shareholders.
Spaldings is unique in its market position in dealing directly with 35,000 UK and Ireland land managers, principally farmers, local authorities and their approved contractors that are serviced via a direct sales force, telephone sales and e-commerce trading. Spaldings reported sales of £23 million and operating profit of £2.4 million in their last published accounts.

The Marubeni Corporation is one of the largest trading companies in Japan with world-wide interests across varying markets including food, forestry, chemicals, energy, minerals, power, finance and transportation and machinery. Marubeni reported sales of US$42.3 billion for the year ended 31 March 2011. Spaldings will become part of Marubeni, whose other interests in the UK include the sale of agrochemicals, agricultural machinery and other transportation equipment.
David Fox, Spaldings Chief Executive and his senior executive team have entered into long-term employment agreements with Marubeni.

Commenting on the acquisition, David said:

“The opportunity to become part of a world-wide operation such as Marubeni is tremendously exciting. With their infrastructure, resources and knowledge the future of the Spaldings business with opportunities to grow both organically and via acquisition will only be enhanced”.

Michael Jewell, Cavendish Partner commented:

“The sale of Spaldings to Marubeni represents the second time in the past year that Cavendish has successfully sold a business to a Japanese buyer. Marubeni recognises the great platform and relationships that Spaldings has in the UK and the value created by David and his team.

“Over the past 60 years we are proud to have built a market leading business. We are now delighted that in Safe Fleet we have found a great home for our business to continue to grow, innovate and support both our employees and customers.

Our advisor Joe Stelzer at finnCap Cavendish tirelessly assisted us through the process and was on hand at each and every step of the journey.”

Nick Luscombe, CEO, Labcraft

“This transaction is a hugely significant milestone in KMP’s development, strongly positioning the business for its next phase of growth, allowing us to extrapolate our already strong global reach with opportunities for economies of scale across complementary brands and products.

I am grateful for the invaluable advice, support and guidance provided by Joe Stelzer and his team throughout the process.”

Joe Eisenberg, Chairman & CEO, KMP Holdings Ltd

“The acquisition of FAI by Motus will bring us many synergies, with scope to expand our supply chains and product ranges, as well as the opportunities to enter new markets. Both existing and new customers will benefit from our core aims of best availability, best service, best quality and best price. Our business ethos is so closely aligned with Motus’s that the change of ownership will be seamless, but the benefits will be felt by all.”

Jonathan Alexander, CEO, FAI

“The Cavendish Team, led by Alistair and Mike, did a fantastic job managing the process, providing valuable advice and identifying Arbuthnot as the right partner for the business. It was a pleasure working together and we are pleased to have achieved a brilliant outcome for the company.”

Nick Offord, CEO, Red7Marine

“The Cavendish team were an integral part of this successful process. They were committed and professional throughout. Hydreco has an established market position, international footprint and complementary mobile hydraulic product line and this should be an exciting next phase of growth for the business under new ownership.”

Jim McColl, CEO and Chairman of Clyde Blowers Capital

“We are proud of the leading global business Xtrac is today; persistent innovation and exceptional customer service remain our highest priorities. Inflexion shares our values; its investment will accelerate our ambitious growth strategy, developing the next generation of high-end automotive transmission systems and expanding our coverage of the high performance hybrid and electric car transmission market. This partnership with Inflexion supports Xtrac’s ethos of employee ownership, and our team look forward to a new chapter in the continuing development and growth of our company.”

Adrian Moore, Managing Director, Xtrac Limited

Cavendish played an invaluable role throughout a complex transaction and in particular getting the transaction across the finishing line.

Lee MowleOwner and CEO of Stewarts

This deal provides an excellent platform for the Levolux business to continue its overseas expansion. As well as the compelling strategic fit, Alumasc provides an excellent home for the Levolux brand and team. We are delighted with the outcome and the support extended to us by Cavendish.

John SternChairman, Levolux

This has been a highly complex transaction involving 10 jurisdictions. Cavendish has held our hands throughout the process, providing a dedicated team who have done a superb job; this has greatly reduced interruptions to our businesses whilst adhering to the original timetable. Cavendish has achieved a very successful sale at a fair price to a buyer who will enjoy significant strategic value from the purchase.

Michael BostelmannGroup Managing Director of Fandstan Electric Group