South: Spectrum advises AJM Healthcare on MBO backed by Westbridge

Spectrum Corporate Finance has advised the shareholders of AJM Mobility, trading as AJM Healthcare, on the MBO of the company backed by WestBridge Capital.

Reading-based Spectrum acted as both lead adviser to the shareholders and debt advisor to management and WestBridge Capital, helping to raise funds to support the acquisition and provide facilities to enable future growth.

AJM Healthcare (AJM) is a leading integrated wheelchair service provider for the NHS, delivering services to a population of over 2 million, and was the first company in the UK to be granted CECOPS accreditation for integrated wheelchair services, widely acknowledged as the gold standard for quality in the sector. AJM employs over 150 people, ranging from specialised therapists to field service engineers.

WestBridge Capital typically invests in medium-sized growing UK SMEs, and was attracted to AJM Healthcare’s recurring income streams, fixed-term contracts and a track record for the provision of quality service.

Following the Transaction James Wakefield (founding partner) and Tim Whittard (investment director) of WestBridge Capital have joined the Board led by AJM CEO Mark Perress, who has been running the business on a day-to-day basis for over seven years.

Whittard said:“AJM is an established, well-respected and well-run business providing a number of essential outsourced services under contract to the NHS and Local Authorities.  It is now in a strong position to achieve significant future expansion of its services. We are delighted to have backed this highly experienced management team, who we are confident will steer the business to its next level of growth – building on its strong reputation for excellent service to its loyal customer base.

"The Spectrum debt advisory team delivered a robust funding package from AIB to support the MBO and additional facilities to enable future growth.”

Ian Milne, managing director and head of debt advisory at Spectrum, commented: “We were pleased to work with the AJM Management team and WestBridge Capital supporting them through the debt raise to fund the MBO. AJM is a quality business, operating under a strong and experienced management team. We chose to work with AIB due to the flexible nature of their debt facilities that provided funding for the MBO as well as future growth.”