Styles & Wood to be acquired by CSHL for £43m

Central Square Holdings has reached an agreement to buy Sale-based fit-out and property services firm Styles & Wood for £42.5m.

The all-cash offer, which is yet to be approved by Styles & Wood shareholders at a general meeting, is for 465p per share, representing a 24% premium. Styles & Wood will de-list from the London Stock Exchange if the offer is agreed.

The deal will see Styles & Wood combine with Leeds-based Southerns, a furniture, fittings, and equipment specialist, in which CSHL has a controlling stake. In its most recent full-year results, covering the year to 30 June 2017, the company, headed up by Andrew Kendall-Jones, made a pre-tax profit £4m on a revenue of £44m.

Southerns is already active in the North West having bought furniture business Ralph Capper in 2015, and Space Invader Design in 2016.

For the year to 31 December 2016, Styles & Wood reported a turnover of £104.7m and an underlying pre-tax profit of £4.1m.

Funding for the deal is being provided by a £25m facility from HSBC and a £25m facility from Tosca Debt Capital Fund. It is also being funded by a £10m equity injection by Central Square’s shareholder, CSI.

If the offer is completed, Styles & Wood’s leadership will remain in place, including Tony Lenehan as chief executive and Philip Lanigan as chief financial officer. Current non-executive chairman Paul Mitchell will become the group’s chairman, while Southerns’ Kendall-Jones will become executive director.

Leeds-headquartered CSHL is an investment vehicle of Steve Parkin, executive chairman of logistics company Clipper.

Commenting on the deal, Andrew Kendall-Jones said: “Our business has grown rapidly both organically and by targeted strategic acquisitions.

“We identified the Styles & Wood business as an ideal business to partner with to further develop the range of services offered to customers, and to create an organisation capable of delivering services across the whole spectrum of property and facilities support services”.

Tony Lenehan, chief executive of Styles & Wood, added: “In recent years, Styles & Wood has made significant progress with its diversification strategy, driving strong organic growth supplemented by value accretive acquisitions that have broadened the group’s service line capabilities.

“We are confident that CSHL, with its commitment to the creation of a best in class offer within the property services market, is the right partner to take Styles & Wood to the next chapter of its growth story and we are excited about the future.”

Numis is acting as financial adviser to Central Square in respect of the offer, and Pinsent Masons is acting as legal adviser to Central Square.

Shore Capital is acting as financial adviser to Styles & Wood in relation to the offer, while Hill Dickinson is acting as legal adviser to the company.