November 22, 2016 – Funds managed by Next Wave Partners LLP have today acquired Roof-Maker for £30 million from its founders Rachel Owen and Scott Nicholas.
Roof-Maker, based in Leicester, UK, is a fast growing, vertically integrated, UK-based omni-channel retailer of premium, high performance rooflights, skylights and bi-fold doors. Pricoa Capital Group (“Pricoa”) provided senior debt and also invested in the transaction. Rachel Owen and Scott Nicholas have re-invested alongside NWP and banking partner, Pricoa, along with members of the existing management team. The business will continue to operate from the facilities in Leicester and Mr Nicholas will remain in the role of Chief Design Officer. Ms Owen and Mr Nicholas started the business in 2001 with a £5,000 investment. Over the last 15 years, Roof-Maker has enjoyed rapid and continued growth to become a market leader.
“When we founded the business, our goal was to produce products and services that we would want from a supplier ourselves” commented Rachel Owen.
“Rachel and I have really enjoyed building up Roof-Maker over the last 15 years into the leading manufacturer and supplier of rooflights in the UK” said Scott Nicholas “However, we recognized that the time was right to find a strong partner with experience of growing businesses such as ours, in particular developing export opportunities. We are very excited about the future and looking forward to working with the NWP team, Pricoa and the Roof-Maker management team over the coming years to achieve more success together.”
“In a market underpinned by government legislation surrounding CO2 emissions and our desire for greater natural light (and space) in our homes, Roof-Maker offers contemporary, high quality, bespoke products with superior thermal insulation and solar gain efficiencies delivered to site within days of being ordered. Roof-Maker is a pioneer in its market and primarily sells direct to end-users undertaking home improvements and renovations across the UK. We were impressed with the degree to which the business has harnessed the internet to drive sales, thereby disrupting and bypassing traditional and established routes to market with its leading social media presence. We are delighted to have been able to invest in such a great company and are excited by the opportunity to work with the management team to take the business to the next level” said Dean MacKenzie, Partner of NWP.
“Roof-Maker has been an amazing success story and we want to build on that success moving forward.” said Paul Mildenstein, CEO.” With Next Wave Partners and Pricoa’s support, I feel very confident we have found the right partner to grow the business domestically and internationally.”
NWP has a track record of significantly growing businesses they have acquired and the new investors plan to further accelerate the growth of Roof-Maker by developing new areas of opportunity and investing in new products, markets, facilities and equipment.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Roof-Maker:
Paul Mildenstein, CEO
0116 269 6297
Paul.mildenstein@roof-maker.co.uk
Next Wave Partners LLP Media Contacts:
Jonathan Brod, Managing Partner
0203 005 7544
jb@nextwavepartners.co.uk
Dean Mackenzie, Partner
0203 551 7676
dm@nextwavepartners.co.uk
About Roof-Maker:
Established in 2001, Roof-Maker is the leading designer, manufacturer and supplier of contemporary high quality residential rooflights and bi-folding doors in the UK. Based in Leicester the business designs and manufacturers all of its product in the UK under the Roof-Maker and Reflex Glass brands and predominantly sells direct to consumers via a well-established e-commerce capability.
About Next Wave Partners LLP:
Next Wave Partners (NWP) is a UK based private equity fund manager focused on investing transformational growth capital. NWP raised its first external fund in 2007 and now has assets under management of €350 million. The firm invests in fast growing, established businesses with strong positions in developing markets and clearly identifiable growth opportunities. NWP targets companies in the business services and consumer products sectors. The investment in Roof-Maker is the first investment from Next Wave Partners III, NWP’s new institutional fund.
About Pricoa Capital Group:
Pricoa Capital Group has been a leading provider of private debt, mezzanine and equity securities to companies worldwide for more than 75 years. Managing a portfolio of $78 billion (as of 30/9/16), Pricoa Capital offers senior debt and mezzanine capital, leverage leases, credit tenant leases and equipment finance. The global regional office network has locations in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Frankfurt, London, Los Angeles, Milan, Minneapolis, Newark, New York, Paris, San Francisco, and Sydney.
Next Wave Partners were advised on the transaction by:
- Mazars provided financial due diligence
- Hill Dickinson led the legal advice for the buyer, supported by Macfarlanes on tax and structuring advice
- Armstrong Transaction Services provided commercial due diligence
- Lincoln International provided debt advisory and buy-side M&A advice
- Highwire Consulting provided management due diligence
- Drax provided executive search services for both the CEO and Chair roles
Vendors were advised on the transaction by:
- Oakfields Advisors Limited acted as lead financial advisor to the Vendors on the sale
- Gowling WLG provided legal, tax and structuring advice
Pricoa were advised on the transaction by:
- Morgan, Lewis & Bockius UK LLP provided legal, tax and structuring advice
Management were advised on the transaction by Geldards LLP.
