Rockworth has advised on the sale of Kenure Developments Limited, an independent manufacturer of specialist, mission-critical components and assemblies for the aerospace and defence sector. Their products are used in tanks, armoured vehicles, and fixed- & rotor-wing aircraft worldwide, including the legendary Eurofighter.
With many of the manufacturing firms relocating their operations to Eastern Europe and the Far-East, the number of defence-focused UK manufacturers was limited. KDL’s “mission critical” components for the MoD meant that such manufacturing could not readily be moved outside of the UK to such markets.
We limited our strategy to only include manufacturers of electromechanical components & assemblies in NATO countries to minimise the risk of upset. These included manufacturers with no involvement in the A&D sectors. The initial list was over 110 names long.
Many manufacturers were interested in the long-standing contracts of KDL with MoD suppliers, even those that did not already have a military manufacturing presence. The eventual buyer was a pan UK-USA based company that saw the potential to increase international tenders with the favourable post-Brexit exchange rate.
The resulting transaction was a combined ‘buy-in management buy-out’ facilitating the continued growth of the core electronics manufacturing business and spinning out the newer, higher growth automated water-meter reading business into a newly funded entity.
“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, Managing Director, Kenure Developments Limited
