CorpAcq - TDR Capital

Founded in 2006 by Simon Orange, CorpAcq is a serial acquirer focused on investments in well-established, stable and cash generative SMEs in the UK primarily in the industrial products and services sectors. It has established strong M&A capabilities building a resilient and diversified portfolio of c.50 companies to date.

CorpAcq has a reputation as a preferred partner to SMEs enabling the founders to preserve their business brand and legacy. CorpAcq invests with a long-term hold view and operates a decentralised model for its portfolio management, whereby it supports its portfolio companies with various growth initiatives but takes a “light-touch” approach and allows management to maintain operational control of the business.

Transaction

We had been following the European serial acquirer space for a number of years, having identified the attractive financial profile of the business model and the opportunity for significant growth given the highly fragmented underlying SME market. The business model offers inherent downside protection through the value of the underlying portfolio and is predicated on a self-funding growth model as the cash yield from the existing portfolio funds further accretive and predictable acquisitions. We were attracted to CorpAcq due to its diversified and resilient underlying portfolio and its track record of originating multiple new acquisitions each year. We also saw the opportunity to support the team with capital and expertise to accelerate its annual rate of acquisitions through both additional capital and a systemisation of the origination process (in part leveraging our data science capabilities) and reposition the business closer to the best-in-class European serial acquirers through a more focused portfolio composition strategy.