Motorclean

Mobeus Equity Partners invested £6m as a combined debt and equity package alongside asset finance to fund the secondary management buyout of Motorclean Group, one of the UK’s leading providers of cleaning and valeting services to the motor industry. The transaction provided a full exit to LDC which had invested in the original management buyout of Motorclean in 2005, whilst enabling the management team to increase its equity stake and continue to run the business. Mobeus provided a further combined debt and equity package of £3.2m to support the acquisition of Forward Valeting Services, combining two of the leading providers of cleaning and valeting services to the UK motor trade. The deal provided scale and the ability to service national contracts for the largest UK dealership groups. Motorclean achieved enhanced coverage and buying power, and was able to leverage its market-leading head office infrastructure and systems. To strengthen the team, Mobeus introduced Kevin Finn as an investing Chairman. Finn is a serial automotive entrepreneur and on the board of the Institute of the Motor Industry. Mobeus originated the transaction by making a direct approach to LDC. An off market deal was structured which met the aspirations of the existing investor as well as the continuing management team. Securing LDC’s confidence that the deal would be delivered, notably by providing a combined debt and equity funding package, was key to opening up the opportunity. Mobeus then led the acquisition negotiations with Forward’s vendors on behalf of the business and worked closely with Motorclean’s management to ensure that the transaction progressed smoothly through due diligence and that the integration was carefully planned. In 2018, having successfully achieved our initial growth target, we determined the time was now right to realise the investment back to management, which has been incrementally building its ownership position since the original LDC buyout 12 years ago. The transaction was funded with substantial support from HSBC UK.