Sagitus Partners

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Sagitus Partners is a group of private investors with a complementary range of experience and skills, seeking acquisitions in the engineering sector.

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Our objective is to build a group of companies in the same or similar sectors of the engineering industry, in which members of Sagitus have substantial operational and financial management experience. The acquired businesses will be run to achieve medium to long-term value, with the necessary investment in people, systems, plant and equipment.

We would normally expect to acquire 100% but are willing to consider taking a majority stake, where the existing owners wish to retain an interest. We will invest our own equity alongside asset-backed funding, and existing management will be offered an equity stake when appropriate. We are also interested in backing suitable MBO teams.

Adrian is a qualified engineer whose experience includes: 10 years as a senior executive at GEC; carrying out an MBI backed by 3i; and leading a number of successful turnarounds of medium-sized companies. He now has a portfolio of non-executive and semi-executive roles in companies in which he has invested. He is normally the first point of contact with Sagitus Partners and carries out the initial review of potential acquisitions.

Tim is an American citizen resident in the UK. He was for many years prominent in the Midlands engineering industry, as the owner and chief executive of several British engineering companies, including Bronx Engineering and British Federal, manufacturers of steel processing lines and welding equipment, respectively. In these roles he increased the profitability and value of the companies, with particular emphasis on increasing export sales. He is now a non-executive director with a wide range of interests and is Chairman of Davall Gears Ltd, our first acquisition.

Robert has over 20 years experience in Private Equity, Venture Capital, Structured Finance and General Management in Europe and the United States. Previously the Head of Private Equity Europe at UBS, Robert is now an investor in private equity-backed companies, and he supports these companies as an independent advisor or non-executive director.

Grahame is a chartered accountant and was an investment banker for 17 years. He has extensive experience of M&A and of capital raising both in public markets and in private placements, across Europe. From 1998 to 2002 he was the CEO of WestLB Panmure, a European Investment Bank with 750 personnel, and prior to that a Managing Director and Member of the Global Investment Banking Board of UBS. He has worked extensively in Germany and Switzerland

Myles Sherman is based in Houston, Texas. He is a serial entrepreneur and is an investor in a number of private equity-backed companies, with a wide range of interests including property businesses in the UK and USA, banking, a security business and a design firm. Myles is a founder and sits on the Board of Directors of The Bank of Houston and is also a Past Global President of the non-profit Entrepreneurs Organisation.

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Within the engineering industry we are particularly interested in acquiring companies focused on the aerospace, defence, energy and medical equipment sectors, with or without their own product ranges. Generally, we are seeking well-run, profitable companies, with a strong competitive position in their market. However, our team has considerable experience in turnarounds and, given the right potential, these would also be considered.

Target Size: Turnover between £3 – £12 million with Gross Margin > 30%.

Our first acquisition, Davall Gears Ltd was acquired from a large diversified American corporation and closely matched our criteria. It has been a very satisfactory investment, both for the Sagitus partners and for the existing management team, who invested alongside us.

The partners will invest their own funds as equity, alongside asset-backed funding. Existing management will, if appropriate, also be offered an equity stake.

After the Acquisition

Depending on the requirements of the individual businesses, the members of the Sagitus team would expect to add value by virtue of their experience in, for example, defence markets, export sales, financial management, mergers & acquisitions, etc.