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Rockworth Management Partners

Rockworth Management Partners

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Laboratory Services M&A Spotlight

Laboratory Services – The Notable Trends

Our research in the Laboratory Services sector has found that a fragmented competitive landscape coupled with positive industry dynamics has seen a sector poised for continued strong growth. In addition, we see high valuation multiples, particularly where there is significant IP and technical expertise.

Active strategic buyers, both domestic and international

Since 2015 acquisitions have added more than £300m to group revenue for FTSE 100 company Intertek, which provides testing, inspection and quality assurance services. That includes large cross-border deals, such as the £370m acquisition of US online safety training provider Alchemy Systems, and smaller bolt-ons, such as June’s £9m deal to buy UK-headquartered NTA Monitor (£3m sales). Intertek continues to look for companies operating in high-margin and high-growth niches that it can scale internationally.

Eurofins, a Luxembourg-based provider of analytical testing services, has been buying to pursue its international growth plan. It made 20 acquisitions in 2018, and so far this year has snapped up nine laboratory measurement and testing businesses across Europe, China and the US, taking its international network of laboratories to more than 800 sites.

Swiss technical and quality assurance consultancy SGS is another active buyer. Including in July it acquired Wolverhampton-based DMW Environmental Safety from the founding family, building its environment, health and safety services in the south of England.

US-headquartered multinationals with appetite to acquire in the UK include Fortive, a buy-and-build group that owns Brighton-based West Control Solutions, a manufacturer of temperature and process control instrumentation. We have also seen Ecolab announce three UK acquisitions since 2017, including sterile equipment manufacturer Bioquell for £117m, although in October the Competition & Markets Authority ruled against Ecolab’s attempt to acquire hygiene products firm Holchem.

Continued high levels of interest from financial sponsors

H2 Equity Partners has consolidated its investments in medical devices and consumables, merging Basingstoke firm Aquilant with Ireland-based Healthcare21, to form a market-leading group in healthcare and scientific sales & distribution, with a combined turnover of €150m.

Golden Gate Capital and GTCR backed September’s management buyout of US-based Cole-Parmer to drive organic growth and strategic add-on acquisitions, on what it sees as a fragmented life sciences and laboratory products sectors.

Private equity firm Ardian formed French group Kersia in 2016 and since then it has supported five strategic acquisitions to build Kersia’s position in food hygiene and disinfection services. That includes acquiring Kilco, a Scotland-based specialist in animal health & food hygiene last year; in July Kersia expanded into North America with the acquisition of Quebec-based Choisy Laboratories.

Acquirors worth watching

Nalka Invest bought Onemed in January and it plans to make the Sweden-headquartered medical supplies business a pan-European organisation. Onemed currently has no UK operation, however historically it has acquired to enter new geographies; since January it has acquired distribution companies in Estonia and Norway (buying Mercurio OÜ in July and aScan in September).

Cambridge-based SDI Group designs and manufacturers scientific and technology products for a range of markets, including life sciences and consumer manufacturing. It has acquired to build its capabilities in sensors and controls, and has bought five UK-based businesses in the last 18 months. The group’s strategy is to continue its buy-and-build, particularly where targets have niche expertise and sustainable profitable businesses..

Our recent transactions

Rockworth recently advised Cherwell Laboratories, a supplier of specialist environmental monitoring products and consumables, on its investment into Pinpoint Scientific, a Wales-based developer of microbial environmental monitoring equipment. Rockworth acted as Cherwell’s dedicated advisor, negotiating commercial terms and managing the transaction alongside co-investor, Development Bank of Wales. The deal gives Cherwell exclusive UK and Europe distribution licences for a key Pinpoint product, and it brings opportunities for product development collaborations.

I’d like to thank Rockworth for their guidance, advice and pragmatism during what has been a very quick turnaround.  It has been a pleasure.”
Andy Whittard, Cherwell’s Managing Director

About Rockworth

Our experience shows us that successful transactions are the result of exhaustive market research processes, numerous in-depth (but anonymous) conversations with C-suite figures, multiple discreet meetings with potential acquirors and a truly competitive bidding process. 

Find out how we can help your business

Realising growth

We work with private companies providing lead advisory business sale and transaction services and long-term exit-planning and strategic growth.

Uniquely confidential

We combine creativity and hard evidence to create a choice of options for our clients.  We always focus the market down to serious interest before even revealing the existence of a client, let alone a client’s identity.

Maximising value

We offer pre-sale planning advice and how to approach and prepare for a deal, giving insight on maximising the value from a transaction.

Rock Solid Standards

We guide our clients, with rigorous attention to detail, throughout the negotiation and due diligence process until the deal is completed.  Our approach is open and collaborative, keeping clients in full control of the transaction.

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Discover the potential of your business


Explore our online portal, Value-Vault. It’s a free-to-access, no-obligation questionnaire and is designed to provide either a standalone ‘health check’ for a business, or to form the starting-point for a more comprehensive process in preparing your business for sale.

Visit Value-Vault

What our Clients say

  • Immense thanks to you both, Lawrence and Zuzana,for all of your hard work and trustworthy advice on this deal; your focus and patience have been incredible. I've been hugely impressed at all stages on how you've guided me through this process; and how you've kept cool heads when it must sometimes have been very challenging to do so. I'm really positive about the next stages. Extremely happy to recommend Rockworth.
    Andy Crysell
    Founder & CEO, Crowd DNA
  • Having been involved with the company for several years prior to the transaction, it was a very natural step for Lawrence and his team at Rockworth to lead the transaction with Investindustrial on behalf of the family shareholders. The key factors in the decision were to maintain absolute confidentiality so as to avoid disruption to the company that had been owned by the founding family for 110 years. Rockworth managed the sale process effectively, coordinating at times a very large number of advisors and negotiating all aspects of the deal alongside management and the shareholders. Rockworth also managed to keep to a tight timetable, agreeing the deal at Christmas and signing 2 months later in order to be able to announce the transaction at the Geneva motor show. The resulting transaction was as good as anyone could have hoped for and all involved are excited about Morgan’s prospects going forward.
    Dominic Riley
    Chairman, Morgan Motor Company
  • The Directors of GBCC were advised thoughout by Rockworth Management Partners whose market expertise enabled them to identify a number of potentially interested parties, of which Swan Mill Holdings became the purchaser.
    Chris Davies
    Finance Director, Great British Card Company
  • .. Thank you everyone at Rockworth for their guidance, advice and pragmatism during what has been a very quick turnaround. It has been a pleasure.
    Andy Whittard
    Managing Director, Cherwell Laboratories Limited
  • The Rockworth approach ensured that we were looking at companies we could be confident had a genuine interest in the transaction without revealing exactly who was looking.
    Jim O’Connor
    CEO, i2N
  • Rockworth provided the support, experience and the technical knowledge that we needed to secure a successful sale.  Lawrence and his colleagues are all high calibre individuals, and I would certainly recommend them.
    Alice Watson
    Founder, Porge Research
  • During the whole process the team at Rockworth were always available to answer questions, no matter how banal, and held our hand through the whole procedure... I can honestly say that without the Rockworth calm hand on the tiller I am not sure we would have got through it in such an easy manner.  
    David Bilton
    Director, CadCam Technologies Limited
  • Kittiwake Developments chose to work with Rockworth on the basis of their approach, networks and reputation.  Lawrence and his team provided excellent support throughout the entire sale process and enabled the company to achieve an outstanding result with the sale to Parker Hannifin. Whilst there was a great deal of complexity at times, it was managed with great care and my colleagues and I enjoyed working together with the Rockworth team throughout. I would have no hesitation in using Rockworth for future transactions and would recommend them very highly to others.
    Martin Lucas
    MD, Kittiwake Developments Ltd
  • Rockworth’s advice and guidance played a key role in the acquisition process at every step of the way – from creating the initial datasheet to the conclusion of final negotiations. In particular, the team’s exceptional support during due diligence was fundamental to meeting a very tight timeline that was just six weeks from formal offer to completion.
    Simon Flatt
    Founder, Pinnacle Marketing Ltd
  • I would like to thank you and the team for the major contribution you made in the sale of Cromptons Healthcare. It turned out to be a very complicated deal and I have to say I was staggered by the commitment and effort that was required from us all. I was impressed by both the professionalism and the support that Rockworth provided, which proved to be absolutely essential to me. I had not fully appreciated beforehand just how necessary that support would be.
    Martin Calhoun
    Owner, Cromptons Healthcare Ltd
  • Lawrence, many thanks to you and the members of the Rockworth team for achieving such a great result for us with the sale of Young Black to Indutrade. It is the best possible result we could have achieved, both for ourselves as shareholders, and for our staff, ensuring not just the continuation of the company, but positioning it for further growth through the development of our Max and Montana brands. We were very pleasantly surprised at the range of potential acquirers that William managed to introduce us to, and had no idea initially of the types of acquirer that you would manage to find from outside our direct industry. Yours and Zuzana’s thorough approach to Due Diligence was enormously helpful, and as I said before – a really impressive team effort from all involved.
    David Black
    Managing Director, Young Black IS Ltd
  • Rockworth was the ideal guide and partner in our search for a buyer for our company. Their process, insight and people skills were the perfect antidote for our inexperience and were a major factor in achieving the smooth path to our desired outcome. From the start their approach suited our needs as a privately owned company with limited resources to run the business and undertake a transaction. Particular features of their work included: the confidential, targeted development of contacts to generate a shortlist of worthwhile interested parties; the professional way they managed all phases of the process; their support for the development of presentation materials and answers to due diligence questions; and their communication and negotiation skills. They were invaluable in helping us understand what was needed and what we might reasonably expect. I cannot recommend them highly enough.
    Tim Champion
    Managing Director, H.Squared Electronics Limited
  • Thanks for the efforts of the Rockworth team in concluding what we hope will be a happy outcome and in particular we should thank you for being so persuasive regarding what a great investment KDL would be to external parties! No doubt we’ll continue to remain in touch particularly if we are chasing after local acquisitions.
    Andre Blackburn
    Owner, Kenure Developments Limited
  • I would like to thank Rockworth for their efforts in managing the deal process of our recent transaction: from initial preparatory work and advice through the deal process and to final completion, we found your work to be invaluable. I was particularly impressed with the careful and thorough management of the due-diligence process carried out by yourself and the team: the consistency and detail-oriented manner in which this work was carried out was much appreciated and ensured that the deal completed smoothly, even accounting for the different languages and countries that formed part of this transaction.
    Fabio Antoniazzi
    Founder, La Credenza Ltd
  • As a family owned business it was extremely important to us that we had an advisor who took real care and attention to the detail of our business which is in a niche market. Lawrence Price and his team demonstrated real commitment to the deal, both in researching appropriate potential acquirers and following this through in a diligent and extremely supportive manner. I know that without Lawrence and his team we wouldn’t have achieved the successful outcome that we did.
    Rachel Bush
    Owner, Bush & Company Rehabilitation Ltd

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