Managers in buyout deal for medicines distributor

The management buyout of DE Group has been supported by a £37m asset-based lending package provided by RBS Invoice Finance. The firm has a large base in Doncaster, and a number of Yorkshire-based advisers were involved in the deal.

The buyout has been led by managing director Mark Gulliford and financial director Andy Wilson. The company will have the same management and staff following the completion of the deal.

The DE Group is made up of DE Pharmaceuticals, which merged with Doncaster Pharmaceuticals in 2007, National Generics in the Midlands, Eclipse Generics in Scotland, Crosspharma Pharmaceuticals in Northern Ireland and Eurodrug in the Republic of Ireland.

It operates from sites in Doncaster, Low Prudhoe in Northumberland, Oldbury in the West Midlands, Belfast and East Kilbride, and employs 300 staff across the group.

Advisers for the deal were KPMG’s corporate finance team, led by Christian Mayo and Mark Booth.

Legal advice was provided to the management team by Sintons, headed by Christopher Welch, a partner in the company and commercial team, together with Alok Loomba and Adrian Dye.

A team from DLA Piper led by Sarah Day, Anna Robson, and Richard Normington acted as advisers to RBSIF.

Mr Gulliford said: “We are firmly focused on growth and our ambition is to cement DE Group’s position as the UK’s largest national short line pharmaceutical wholesalers.”

Paul Goodchild, corporate development director at RBS Invoice Finance, added: “DE Group has developed into a leading player in its field and the growth of the business is testament to the solid management team within which Mark and Andy have played a key role.

“The sale of the business to such experienced and well respected individuals marks a key milestone in the firm’s evolution as it embarks on a new journey of independent ownership.

“We wish them all the best in the future as the team enter their next stage of growth.”

Sarah Day, the managing partner of DLA Piper’s office in Leeds said yesterday: “This is a great example of an asset-based lending line of funding, particularly in a structured deal like this.”