Bridgepoint does well on Keenpac

As well as celebrating a close on its EURO2 billion fund, Bridgepoint has also achieved an exit from Keenpac Holdings, a retailer of packaging products. Bridgepoint has sold its 50.5 per cent stake in a GBP20.5 million secondary buyout funded by Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance. The deal will return the majority equity stake to Keenpac management and provides Bridgepoint with a profitable exit.

Bridgepoint originally invested in the company in 1999, arranging a GBP14 million funding package to enable the company to develop further and provide European fashion houses with a global solution to the their packaging requirements.

Alan Payne, a director at Bridgepoint in Birmingham, said: “When Bridgepoint invested in Keenpac in 1999, the plan was to grow the business internationally before realising a sale. Management has performed very well and we have exited the investment on schedule and with a good profit.”

The secondary buyout offers a timely exit for Bridgepoint, and provides the Keenpac management team including Glynn Bradshaw, David Muir, and Andrew Walters with a majority equity stake in the business. The deal was structured for integrated finance by Mike Gillespie, Nigel Irvine, Colin Sommerville and Helen Bennett. Shareholders were advised by KPMG Corporate Finance.