Arbuthnot Commercial ABL backs MBO of Glossop Carton & Print with flexible funding facility
Arbuthnot Commercial Asset Based Lending Limited (“ABL”) has provided a structured ABL facility to support the management buy-out (MBO) of one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of carton board packaging products, Glossop Carton & Print (“Glossop Cartons”). The facility comprised of a confidential invoice discounting line, together with a plant & machinery term loan.
The transaction will see the current managing director, Wayne Fitzpatrick, acquire 100% of the business. Wayne joined the North-West based business from a large corporate group in 2018 and plans to take Glossop Cartons to its next stage of growth.
Glossop Cartons’ focus on innovation, quality, and service, together with its use of state-of-the-art technology, enabled the company to grow from a nascent start-up in 1982 to a thriving industry leader with a strong customer base comprised of blue-chip names that cover various industries including food and drink, healthcare, and cosmetics today.
Wayne Fitzpatrick, managing director of Glossop Cartons, said: “Glossop Cartons has been built on strong foundations and it’s fantastic to have the opportunity to take the business to the next level of growth. A financial adviser outlined a number of options and made the initial introduction to Arbuthnot Commercial ABL. Their team then visited our production facility in Stockport to gain a detailed understanding of how our business operates, quickly understanding what we were looking to achieve. Having a central point of contact to pull all of the different strands of the deal together made the process very straightforward. Arbuthnot Commercial ABL worked closely with us to structure the required level of working capital to meet our strategic expansion plans.”
He continued: “The funding provided by Arbuthnot Commercial ABL has enabled us to complete the MBO as well as flex the availability of working capital to accommodate our expansion. As a result of the additional funding, we are able to take on take on bigger projects and increase production from two shifts to three to maximise our asset utilisation.”
Commenting on the deal, Andrew Rutherford, commercial director at Arbuthnot Commercial ABL, said: “We were delighted to support Wayne Fitzpatrick in his MBO of a business that has been built successfully over the years with high quality customer service at the core. Given its blue-chip clients, and the investment the business has made in its people and technology, Glossop Cartons is ideally placed to maximise its opportunities for growth. This was a complex transaction, but our short reporting lines and the direct involvement of our senior management team ensured that we delivered the deal within the timeframes required and generated the optimal level of funding both for the buy-out and to power our client’s future expansion plans.”
