Bridgepoint buys ALcontrol Labs

In December, Bridgepoint Capital announced a GBP70 million acquisition of ALcontrol Laboratories from Kelda Group. ALcontrol, which operates in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden, provides analytical services to the environmental, water, food and emissions monitoring markets. The company operates 23 laboratories across Northern Europe employing more than 4,000 people and expects to generate turnover of some GBP46 million in the year to March 2001.

Incumbent managers in the UK, the Netherlands and Sweden have participated in the buyout, which was supported by debt funding arranged by Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.

Bridgepoint, whose Nordic, German and UK investment teams worked on the deal, believes that ALcontrol has three separate expansion routes open to it: acquisition; the development of new markets, particularly in continental Europe; and the application of its technology to new areas.

ALcontrol chief executive Gerard Baalhuis says: “The successful growth we have achieved over the last couple of years can now continue and I look forward to building a strong brand throughout Europe. This will benefit all of Alcontrol’s stakeholders”.