SIG sells off its VJ Technology wing for Â£29.7m

SIG disposed of VJ Technology (VJT), a distributor of technical fixings, fasteners and consumables to the infrastructure, this week with Primary Capital its new owner.

The sale to Primary Capital, a UK private equity investment firm, is in line with SIG’s medium-term divestment strategy of disposing of smaller, non-core businesses in order to refocus the group’s portfolio and strengthen its balance sheet.

Shoosmiths has advised SIG, the second divestment that Shoosmiths’ Leeds corporate team has advised on in the space of three months, having also advised the FTSE 250 company on the sale of IBSL, a UK fabricator working in the petrochemicals sector, in March.

Philip Goldsborough, head of corporate at Shoosmiths’ Leeds office, led the team advising SIG on both transactions, assisted by senior associate Simon Procter and solicitor Sophie Davies (corporate), Richard Bellamy (real estate), Antonia Blackwell (employment), Jennifer Clarke (commercial) and Dan Kennedy (tax).

He said: “We are delighted to have advised SIG on the successful divestment of VJT.

“The Shoosmiths team has worked incredibly hard together with SIG and the wider advisory teams to deliver a complex transaction in a challenging timetable – it has been a fantastic team effort.”

SIG was also advised by Rothschild (Leeds) and PwC (Leeds). Primary Capital was advised by Cooley (London).

SIG has had a tough start to the year with the protracted cold weather, which brought much of the country to a standstill, denting its operations.

Like-for-like revenues fell 4.4 per cent in the UK & Ireland in the first four months while the group’s Exteriors business was also hit by weak market conditions in UK commercial new build and the Repair, Maintenance and Improvement (RMI) markets.

The group’s Mainland Europe business continued to perform well, with like-for-like revenues up 3.8 per cent during the period.