Electra and Candover warm to merger

A merger between Newmond plc and Baxi Holdings plc completed at the end of November. Newmond, the subject of an unexited GBP360 million buyout backed by Electra and Candover in 1996, is a GBP300 million group operating in the heating, construction and home products sectors. Baxi focuses on heating products and, following its 1999 acquisition of Blue Circle’s heating division, has ranked as one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of domestic boilers, with a turnover approaching GBP500 million.

The merged entity, Baxi Group, is the owner of some of the strongest brands in the heating and home comfort markets, among them Baxi, Potterton, Heatrae Sadia, Valor, Ancon, Pulse, Curzon and Aqualisa.

Electra Partners Europe acted as lead investor in the deal, subscribing new equity alongside additional capital from Candover funds and NIB Capital. Royal Bank of Scotland, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale arranged and provided debt funding.