Alantra advised Palatine Private Equity on its investment in CET UK

Nov 2018

Buy-side advisory

Alantra has advised Palatine Private Equity on the secondary buy-out of CET UK, a specialist provider of infrastructure and property assurance services.

Palatine has taken a majority stake in the company, which employs over 470 staff and was established in 1989 in Castle Donington. The deal was supported by debt and working capital facilities from Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank Acquisition Finance and Beechbook Capital.The deal will see The Equity Harvest Fund exit the business.

The investment from Palatine will allow CET’s Property Assurance business to develop new technology that will streamline the claims management and investigation process. The infrastructure business plans to roll out additional testing facilities across the UK to capitalise on the growth within this sector. Palatine will also support the on-going buy-and-build strategy for both divisions, broadening service capability and geographical reach. Simon Peacock, Director at Alantra, who advised on the deal, said: “We are delighted to have supported Palatine on their investment in CET, an impressive business that has achieved significant growth over the last few years.CET is in a strong position to capitalise on the many opportunities that lie ahead through further investment in technology and in continuing its international buy and build growth strategy.”

Robert Pearce, Director in Business Services, Alantra commented: “The TIC and Assurance sub-sector continues to demonstrate strong valuations, driven by sub-sector fundamentals and competition for decent assets which are being chased by a huge amount of capital. Alantra has a strong pipeline of opportunities, building on recent deals such as the Trigo acquisition of Lumbee in the US, and Spectris’ acquisition of Concept Life Sciences in the UK.”

The deal will see Palatine back the incumbent management team, which is headed by CEO, Peter Eglinton.

Peter Eglinton, CEO of CET UK, said: “I am delighted that Palatine will be supporting the business and look forward to working with them in achieving our ambitious growth plans. We will continue to focus on delivering great services for our customers, investing in smart technology and in developing our team.”