Adare Group eyes global expansion after £60m buyout

PRIVATE EQUITY house Endless has announced its second deal in as many days with the £60m buyout of a Yorkshire business that counts global drinks brands, big pharma and African governments among its customers.
By The Newsroom
Published 15th Apr 2015, 08:00 BST
Robert WhitesideRobert Whiteside
Robert Whiteside

The Leeds-based investor backed the secondary management buyout of the Adare Group, which provides essential and secure communications and global marketing procurement services.

The Huddersfield company is led by Robert Whiteside, has four main divisions and a combined turnover of £170m.

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It is preparing for the general election next month with the printing of 7m ballot papers, 5m polling cards and 1.25m postal voting forms. It has also supplied ballot papers for elections in Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda and Nigeria.

Adare completed a major refinancing last October with HSBC replacing a consortium of lenders in a deal that slashed the cost of servicing its debt. The deal with Endless will provide the group with funding for national and international acquisitions.

Adare already serves clients in 50 countries from 60 cities; this will rise to at least 60 countries and 70 locations over the next year, according to Mr Whiteside. The number of employees will also rise from 900 to 1,000.

The Glaswegian has overseen a substantial diversification of the business over the last decade.

Chris Clegg, managing director of Endless, said: “This is a very exciting time to be backing Adare.”

The investor’s £40m buyout at FMG was announced on Tuesday.

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