There’s a lot of talk right now about companies up for sale, being bought etc. We’re in a period of readjustment, and with a continued over-supply of companies both in installation and fabrication, we could see a lot more M&A activity over the next couple of years.

It was a new follower on Twitter which alerted me to a fabrication and installation business based in the North West of England, up for sale for a not-so-insignificant sum of £2.2m.

Up for sale

My new follower is Alyn Walters, the Director of a company called The Business Exchange. They specialise in helping to buy and sell businesses. It was one of their most recent listings that caught my eye. A window and door fabricator and installer based in the North West of England, up for sale for more than £2m.

This is their listing on TBX:

This is an established business based in the North West of England. The company operates under 2 brands and both of these brands are included in this listing.

Brand 1:

Under this brand the company designs manufactures and installs a range of PVCu, Timber and Aluminium (among other materials) products for a variety of Businesses and Consumers. Products designed manufactured and installed include:

• Conservatories, Extensions & Orangeries

• Windows

• Doors

• Roof Systems

• Garage Doors

Please also note that under this brand the company is also involved in new builds and a range of commercial projects. This is the company’s main brand.

Brand 2:

The other & synergistic brand supplies and delivers catering equipment amongst other products direct to a customers door.

So, windows and doors, with a bit of food tech on the side. They’re asking for £2.2m or nearest offer, and will be a 100% share sale. They turnover £4.8m per year, and have around 50 members of staff. We’re not talking about a small company here. Do a quick Google maps search for fabricators in the North East and a few fairly well known names do pop up.

Would one of the super-groups within the industry be interested in this target? Is the time right for further expansion? Or with Brexit potentially on the horizon, are potential buyers going to keep their powder dry until after we leave the EU to see the new lay of the land?

More M&A to come

Looking at the industry with a much wider perspective, I still believe that we will see quite a lot more mergers and acquisitions in the coming couple of years. Strongly positioned companies operating in the UK may look to acquire rivals or similarly aligned companies to consolidate what they see as an already strong position.

But, with a weaker pound, we could see a lot of interest from other parts of the world. A weaker Sterling makes for some decent bargains for UK companies. It may be the case that foreign businesses could look at British window and door companies and see some potential deals in our market.

Either way, most people would agree that there are still too many companies to service the demand coming from the general public right now. Further consolidation is needed to help streamline the industry.

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