Management Buy In at Acklea Limited

In a recent transaction, the Corporate Finance team at Shaw Gibbs assisted local businessman Martin Potter to acquire a controlling stake in Acklea Limited, one of theUK’s leading suppliers of traffic management equipment.

Funding for the deal was secured by Chris Morris of NGI Finance in conjunction with Close Asset Finance, and legal advice to Mr. Potter was provided by Nicola McConville at Blake Lapthorn inOxford.

Martin Potter has a background of over 20 years in the specialist vehicle industry focusing on the infrastructure maintenance arena. His experience includes strategic business development, vehicle procurement, remarketing, maintenance and service delivery.

Acklea, based in Calne, Wiltshire, are specialists in the construction, sale, maintenance and hire of purpose designed vehicles for the traffic management industry.  Vehicles can be built or modified to bespoke customer requirements with the addition of lighting boards, signage and crash cushions.  Acklea are theUK’s exclusive agents for the industry leading Scorpion Crash Cushion.

Commenting on the deal Peter O’Connell, Partner in the Corporate Finance team at Shaw Gibbs, said “I’m delighted to have helped Martin by driving through this transaction. We faced numerous challenges, not least the current difficult environment for doing corporate deals, but I’m convinced that Martin has all the abilities to develop and position Acklea at the forefront of the industry, which is good news for customers and employees. The previous owner, David Phizacklea, had two main criteria for completing this deal; his belief that Martin was the right person to take the business on to the next level of development, and his own desire to take more of a back seat in the running of the business. I am delighted that David has agreed to remain involved and will spearhead the Company’s research and development.  I would like to wish both Martin and Acklea every success”.

For details of the Corporate Finance Team and of their recent transactions, please click here