Gresham achieves 3 4x money on exit of PIMS Group

Gresham Private Equity, the UK mid market private equity specialist, today announces that it has successfully exited PIMS Group through the sale of the business to Inflexion. The sale will yield Gresham a return on investment of 3.4 times.

Based in Farnborough, PIMS is involved in the sale, installation and service of submersible pumps for water sewage and drainage systems. Established in 1972, the company services clients nationwide in the water, construction and retail sector including Persimmon, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Thames Water.

Since Gresham led the £12m buy-in management buy-out in December 2004, the management team led by Charlie White has invested heavily in the company’s infrastructure, consolidated its operations and expanded its sales force. This has resulted in a doubling of sales in just three years. Employee numbers has increased by over a third to 114.

Charlie White and the existing management team are remaining with the company and are committed to maintaining PIMS’ excellent track record. Gresham remains a minority shareholder.

Ken Lawrence, Partner at Gresham, who led the exit said: “PIMS has been a fantastic investment and it had been a pleasure to work with Charlie White yet again and his highly experienced team. Gresham wishes them the best of luck with their new backers Inflexion.”

Charlie White, Managing Director of PIMS comments: “This is my second buyout with Gresham and I have been delighted to work with them to not only deliver shareholder value over the last 3 years but also position Pims for the next phase of growth.”

Gresham specialises in the support services sector. Other similar deals include Altair, the leading provider of inlet filtration solutions for the power generation, oil and gas and marine industries and Alstec who operate, maintain and build a diverse range of systems and equipment such as nuclear and thermal power, defence and airports baggage handling and a broad spectrum of logistics operations.