The M&A wheels are in motion in the industry right now, with deals and restructurings going on all over the place. Today I want to focus on what has been happening with Kaliber Marketing (Holdings) Limited.

The company which traded formerly as KAT UK, is in administration according to Companies House. There now appears to have been a resolution found.

Assets sold to connected companies

Within Kaliber were a number of brands, including Universal Arches and Spitfire Doors. According to documents recently posted on Companies House, the assets of Kaliber have been sold to companies with existing relationships to the business. Here’s a snapshot taken from the source which is readily available online:

Spitfire Doors appears to have come away with the most out of this deal. They already (in my opinion) make one of the best entrance doors in the market. With the assets they have, they now have a springboard from which to grow and expand. The bit that stands out for me is the intellectual property. Yes the physical assets are important, including the ongoing work, but intellectual property includes ideas, patents, designs etc. There could be a trove of future valuable and profitable ideas Spitfire could build on. They already have an amazing product, they now have the tools with which to build further.

Ayrshire Doors & Windows Limited trades as Stag Aluminium, a business already within the network of those who run the other brands, has come away with the aluminium plans and machinery assets.

Brisk business activity

This is the only fenestration company to be resolving things at the moment. There are a number of deals ongoing right now which appear close to being completed. In a post soon to be published on DGB, I’ll be reporting on the known details so far of one of the biggest UK groups currently up for sale right now.

As it stands, conditions are perfect for a busy M&A period on UK window and door companies. From a foreign investment point of view, UK companies look particularly attractive right now as the lower value of Sterling means our companies are cheaper to purchase. Now would seem a pretty good time for foreign firms with a bit of cash to spend to look at UK fenestration companies.

With a wider view, we’re also entering a time where we could see an increase in the number of companies going under. We know that FENSA have recently reported that volumes from its members are down 8.2% compared to the same period last year. Whilst FENSA doesn’t represent the entire industry, they still have a significant membership, which means this is a good indiction as to the performance of the market in general. And a 8.2% move to the downside is a big one. It has to be considered that such a steep drop would mean the some companies could be facing a very tough future in the coming months.

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