Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management UK (“Westbrooke”) is pleased to announce the successful closing of a mezzanine debt facility in support of H2 Equity Partners’ (“H2”) £50 million acquisition of Acal BFi (“Acal”) from DiscoverIE Group plc (LSE: DSCV).

  • Mezzanine financing – provided by Westbrooke subordinated to ABL facilities
  • Market leading borrower – underpinned by Acal BFi’s diversified customer base spread across 7 geographies
  • Strong growth prospects – driven by Acal BFi’s higher-value, design-led proposition serving 8 end markets with strong underlying growth fundamentals
  • Strategic partner – partnering with H2, a highly experienced and leading mid-market private equity sponsor

Founded in 1984, Acal is a leading pan-European provider of value-added design solutions, electronic components and custom products to the broad electronics sector, serving over 6,000 OEM customers in seven countries.

Through the investment, H2 will become the largest shareholder in the business alongside existing management, with Westbrooke taking a minority equity stake in addition to its position as mezzanine lender.

H2 Equity Partners are a leading independent investment firm, making investments in medium-sized companies with significant growth or improvement potential.

H2’s Katherine Ho said: “With Westbrooke’s support, we were able to complete this acquisition despite the challenging nature of the carve-out. We look forward to working alongside them through Acal’s next phase of growth.”

Westbrooke’s James Stirling, added: “This is the second transaction Westbrooke has closed alongside H2, and we look forward to working with them and the team at Acal.”

Westbrooke is a multi-asset, multi strategy manager of, and advisor to, alternative investment funds and products across private debt, hybrid capital, real estate and private equity / venture capital. Westbrooke provides bespoke financing solutions to a range of small to medium sized UK companies, funding across the entire capital structure through a combination of senior debt, intermediate capital and equity financing.

For more information on Westbrooke please contact James Stirling at james.stirling@waam-uk.

For more information on H2, visit, www.h2ep.co.uk. To read more about Acal, visit www.acalbfi.com/uk/.