Bicester: BCMS advises Cooper Callas on industry veteran MBI
Cooper Callas, a leading distributor of kitchen and bathroom brands, has been acquired by Philip Carr, an industry veteran in the bathroom sector, in a management buyin negotiated by Berkshire-based international M&A advisers BCMS.
Cooper Callas is a nationwide UK distributor of kitchen and bathroom brands, including its own branded range Bathrooms by Blu, and the exclusive premium marques Sottini and Azzurra.
Headquartered in Bicester, Oxfordshire, the company serves a national client base through its locations at Glasgow, Leeds and Newton Abbot, Devon.
Established in 1875, it has a long heritage in homeware and today supplies leading national high street retailers such as John Lewis.
Carr has an extensive track record in developing and growing businesses within the UK bathroom sector. Most recently, he was engaged as commercial and marketing director at Crosswater Holdings UK. In 2006, he led Crosswater Holdings UK’s acquisition of Simpsons Shower Enclosures, and was supported in the acquisition of Cooper Callas by HMT LLP.
BCMS deal leader Doug Edmunds, who managed the transaction, commented: “The sale of Cooper Callas was unique in that it involved one of the UK’s largest independent distributors of bathrooms. BCMS received significant interest in the business, given the size of the Cooper Callas operation and its genuinely national footprint.
“As well as being BCMS’ largest-ever MBI, the acquisition of Cooper Callas by an industry veteran backed by private equity is a good example of the diverse types of transactions available to SMEs in today’s market."
As part of its advisory work, BCMS researchers profiled 179 companies that could potentially acquire the business. Following discreet approaches by the BCMS deal team, 33 organisations expressed a serious interest in reviewing the acquisition. The shareholders met with nine interested parties to discuss the acquisition in detail with the proposal tabled by Carr proving the strongest.
BCMS acted as advisers to the vendors, the shareholders of Cooper Callas.
