Location: North of England, serving clients nationwide and internationally
Turnover: c. £3.3m current year, recovering toward a historical high of c. £3.6m
EBITDA: c. £0.6m (c. 19% margin)
Profit after tax: c. £0.47m
Asking price: Offers invited. 100% share sale on a cash-free, debt-free basis.
OVERVIEW
A long-established and consistently profitable UK specialist in industrial automation, controls and system integration, offered for sale for the first time. Over more than two decades the company has delivered hundreds of bespoke control-system, PLC and turnkey automation projects for blue-chip manufacturers across the automotive, aerospace, petrochemical and logistics sectors, in the UK and internationally. All software and hardware are designed in-house and owned outright.
Repeat business accounts for over 80% of annual revenue. The company has been profitable in every year of trading, with cumulative profit of c. £1.2m over the last four years. A recent dip in volume followed the completion of a small number of large control-system contracts. Current-year trading has re-established both volume and margin: gross margin moved from c. 22% to c. 35%, and EBITDA from £85k to c. £621k, against a broadly fixed cost base.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
A specialist position built over two decades. The company designs its own control systems and holds the long-term maintenance work that follows installation. That combination took years to assemble and would be hard to replicate at speed.
Long-standing relationships with major manufacturers across four sectors, with over 80% of work coming from repeat clients.
End-to-end capability owned in-house, from design and manufacture through installation, commissioning and maintenance.
A structural driver of demand. A large installed base of ageing PLC and control equipment is reaching end of life, creating a sustained replacement and upgrade market in live production environments.
The UK factory automation and industrial control market is forecast to grow at around 10% a year, and a documented engineering skills shortage favours established teams.
Management's base case grows turnover at 10% per annum from the current-year base, reaching c. £4.4m of revenue and c. £0.62m of profit after tax by year four, with EBITDA margin sustained around 19%.
REASON FOR SALE
A three-year performance plan set by the directors has been met. The shareholders are now seeking a full sale to combine succession with a next phase of growth under an owner with greater managerial and financial resource. An experienced engineering and delivery team remains in place, and a handover period is available to an incoming owner.
PREMISES
A well-equipped facility on an established business park in the North of England.
WHO THIS WILL SUIT
Automation and controls groups adding capability and scale, engineering services consolidators seeking blue-chip access, OEMs and system suppliers integrating downstream delivery, and private equity backing a buy-and-build in industrial technology.
PROCESS AND CONFIDENTIALITY
Further information, including the full Information Memorandum and complete financial forecasts, is available on receipt of a signed Non-Disclosure Agreement. Interested parties will then be invited to visit the premises and meet the board.
This advertisement is issued on a strictly confidential basis and deliberately omits information that could identify the company. No approach should be made to the company, its directors, employees, customers or suppliers. Doing so may jeopardise the process. All enquiries must be directed solely to the adviser.
