Tom Cobleigh goes to Electra

In the second deal from its new European fund, Electra Partners has acquired the Tom Cobleigh pub chain from Rank in an MBI valued at GBP90 million. Tom Cobleigh, which owns and operates 87 large managed public houses and a further 23 tenanted pubs, had a turnover of

GBP56.4 million in 1999. The Tom Cobleigh pubs are food-led, targeting the growing family and adult pub restaurant market.

Electra has appointed a new management team headed by Bill McCosh, the former head of Mansfield Brewery and chairman of Mill House Inns, and Jeff Sills, who previously headed Greene King’s Hungry Horse division.

Electra is investing GBP28 million alongside significant equity from the management team. CIBC World Markets provided debt facilities for the deal.

Duke Street and Madison Filter buy to build At the end of August, Madison Filter Group acquired one of its major competitors, Southwestern Wire Cloth of the US for $36 million. Duke Street Capital, which acquired Madison then called the Specialty Materials division of Scapa Group in a GBP37 million buyout last November, provided additional backing to support the add-on acquisition.

Southwestern Wire, the second largest distributor of wire cloth in North America, has strong market positions in oilfield drilling screens, fibre and polymer extrusion packs and industrial shakers. As such it is directly complementary to Madison, which produces consumable filtration media for the oil and gas, chemicals, water treatment and pulp and paper industries. The acquisition of Southwestern Wire broadens Madison’s offering for the chemicals, mining, pharmaceuticals and petrochemical sectors. The enlarged group will have a turnover of GBP100 million and, according to Duke Street chief executive Edmund Truell, “will continue to seek opportunities in a highly fragmented global marketplace”.