Warrington technology firm IESA sold in a deal worth £88m

June 19, 2018

A gunnnercooke team led by Mark Whittaker, has advised on the sale of IESA, a market leading business process outsourcer. The buyer was leading distributor of electronics, engineering tools and consumables, Electrocomponents PLC. The sale provides an exit for Gresham Private Equity, who invested in the company through an MBO in 2012.

Headquartered in Warrington, IESA has frequently appeared in both the Tech Track and Profit Track rankings. The business is recognised for its highly innovative approach to the management of clients’ inventory stock. The company is renowned for achieving significant savings on working capital and is supported by an award-winning cloud based digital IT platform,.

IESA acquired Active Industrial Supply in 2017 as part of an ongoing growth strategy. It operates across Germany, Ireland, Singapore and the UK. The sale represents the next step in its impressive growth trajectory, which has been supported by a number of significant client wins.

The buyer is member of the listed Electrocomponents group, a leading global high-service distributor of engineering products, supporting customers with a broad range of industrial and electronic products and services that are essential for the successful operating of their businesses. The transaction will create a powerful complementary group across procurement and distribution, with real growth opportunities for both entities.

Mark Whittaker led the gunnercooke team of lawyers who advised IESA on the transaction, supported by Will Squires (Corporate), Simon Horsfield (Employment), Jill Parker (Banking), Adam Bushby (Pensions), Chris Powell (Commercial / IT), Saad Ahmed (Tax) and Liz Roberts (Property).