Healthy return from Ravenstock Tam

Barclays Private Equity has reported a good return from its investment in Ravenstock Tam, a UK-based cabin and container hire company. Barclays Private Equity sold Ravenstock Tam to US-based Mobile Storage Group. The size of the deal was not disclosed but has been estimated to be approximately GBP50 million.

Barclays acquired Ravenstock Tam in a management buyout from Goode Durrant (now known as Northgate), in 1998. Dudley Thompson, former finance director of Goode Durrant, led the GBP23.4 million deal. Barclays invested equity of GBP11.5 million in the buyout, which included the assumption of GBP9.3 million of debt. Management took a stake of around 30 per cent and Bank of Scotland provided debt finance.

Brian Blakemore, a Birmingham-based director of Barclays Private Equity, said: “We’ve been very pleased with our investment in Ravenstock Tam, which has given a good return. In the light of events in September, and the economic uncertainty that has resulted, it is also particularly good to see that this purchase is being made by an American company that remains intent on expansion into Europe and has completed the transaction which started some months ago.”

Ravenstock Tam, formerly Tam Industrial Services and Ravenstock, has headquarters near Liverpool. The company supplies a range of modular and jackleg accommodation units, plus steel storage units as well as furniture. According to Barclays, Ravenstock Tam has achieved all of its growth targets. Since the buyout it has increased its fleet of units from 11,500 to 16,000 and its network of UK depots from 17 to 23.

Ravenstock Tam is one of a number of UK acquisitions made by Mobile Storage Group and will be used as a cornerstone for European expansion, as part of the group’s global expansion strategy. The California-based group, which has some 62,000 units, provides on-site storage solutions containers, trailers and office units to sectors such as agriculture, construction, entertainment, retail and government. The company plans to relocate its corporate headquarters to Middlesborough, England.

PricewaterhouseCoopers advised Ravenstock Tam and conducted a global auction for Barclays Private Equity. Pinsent Curtis Biddle acted for Barclays Private Equity on the 1997 deal and advised both Barclays Private Equity and Ravenstock Tam on the sale of the company.