Duke interviewed Miriad Products’ MD Penny Whitelock on topics including the benefits of royalty financing to support management buyouts.
Duke interviewed Brightwater MD Barbara McGrath on topics ranging from female leadership to COVID-19.
Duke interviewed the United Glass Group’s MD Mark Harrison on topics ranging from capital raising to navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duke interviewed Welltel’s Chairman John Quinn on topics including the use of royalty financing to execute the company’s buy and build growth strategy.
Case Studies
Miriad Products
Miriad has been established for over 40 years in the recreational vehicle and leisure industry, supplying and distributing to retailers and OEMs across the UK and Europe.
Bakchysarai
Brightwater Selection specialises in the recruitment of professionals across professional services, technical services and executive for permanent, contract, temporary and interim management roles.
United Glass Group
United Glass Group is one of the UK’s leading independent glass merchants and processors.
Bakhchysarai (Ireland) Limited (“BIL”) was founded as an investment platform in 2018 in order to build a diversified portfolio of strategic and synergistic investments within the Irish/UK recruitment sector.
BIL’s first acquisition was Brightwater, a market-leading recruitment consultancy founded in 1998 with offices in Dublin, Cork and Belfast. The company provides permanent, contract and executive search services to its diversified client base of SMEs, large blue-chip corporates and public sector entities. Duke financed the MBO of Brightwater in September 2018, led by industry veteran and incumbent Managing Director Barbara McGrath.
BIL completed its second acquisition in January 2020. Founded in 2006, PE Global is one of the leading Healthcare and Life Sciences Recruiters in Ireland. The business is based in Cork, with a growing presence and reputation in the UK. PE Global’s clients include blue-chip Life Science multi-nationals, whilst the Healthcare division boasts long-term contracts with both the NHS (UK) and HSE (Ireland).
| Industry: | Business Services |
| Capital Invested: | €11.0m |
| Annualized Royalty Payments: | €1.49m |
| Website: | |
| Partner since: | September 2018 |
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BHPC is an Irish brokerage specialising in the niche not-for-profit (NFP) insurance space, with small operations in other specialty insurance areas. The Company is an established market leader and has provided insurance solutions to the NFP sector for over 20 years.
BHPC has a broad range of customers in the NFP space encompassing several thousand charities, social housing groups and community and volunteer organisations.
Ahead of its acquisition by Duke Royalty, Capital Step successfully funded the MBO/MBI of BHPC as part of a shareholder transition plan, whereby the combined buy-in and buy-out management team will leverage their experience in order to drive the business forward through various growth initiatives.
| Industry: | Insurance |
| Capital Invested: | £5.2m |
| Investment Type: | Senior-secured Perpetual Royalty + Term Loan (Uni-tranche) |
| Website: | www.bhpinsurance.ie/not-for-profit-insurance/ |
| Partner since: | August 2018 |
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Step Investments Ltd. is a diversified holding company with controlling stakes in businesses spanning the Education, Advertising and Leisure sectors.
City Education Group consists of four Dublin-based education institutions and commenced trading in 2011 after it acquired Ashfield Colleges. The Group subsequently acquired the College of Progressive Education (founded in 1986), in 2013 and offers English language courses and professional courses from various other Dublin-based entities.
Founded in 2011, AdTower has the largest network of digital screens in Ireland, focusing on predominantly supermarket chains and forecourt retailers.
Pearl & Dean and Wide Eye Media are both established players in the cinema advertising space. Pearl & Dean has been a household brand for over 60 years in the UK, whilst Wide Eye Media, formed in 1996, enjoys dominant market share in Ireland, with over 500 cinema screens across its portfolio. Pearl & Dean (acquired in 2015) and Wide Eye Media (acquired in 2009) today form part of the same investment group, sharing many operational synergies and growth opportunities.
| Industry: | Education, Advertising and Leisure |
| Capital Invested: | £6.4 million |
| Investment Type: | Perpetual Royalty |
| Website: | www.pearlanddean.com www.wideeyemedia.com www.adtower.ie www.citygroup.ie |
| Partner Since: | June 2018 |
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MRDB Holdings undertakes business as Miriad Products. Formed in 1977, Miriad is the largest privately-owned recreational vehicle (“RV”) parts wholesale company in the UK.
Headquartered in Foston, Derbyshire, the Company has developed a strong reputation for its large range of quality products, industry knowledge and customer-focus. It has exclusive supplier contracts and long-standing relationships with key brands in the industry, and is seen as a reliable and valued partner which has supported the growth of its customers.
With the UK being one of the fastest growing European RV markets for caravans and motor-vehicles, Miriad is well-positioned to take advantage of this. It currently supplies over 15,000 individual products and accessories in the motorhome, caravan, and converter market to approximately 1,700 end business customers and operates out of a 35,000 sq ft facility. Miriad operates a business-to-business model which services customers through two distinct sales divisions – OEM and retail.
| Industry: | Distribution and Sales |
| Capital Invested: | £13.1m |
| Annualized Royalty Payments: | £1.32 million |
| Website: | www.miriad-products.com |
| Partner since: | February 2019 |
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ICHC is a leading healthcare organization specialising in the development, commissioning and management of healthcare facilities and services using a public-private partnership model. Its core business is to export Canada’s Healthcare intellectual and management expertise to other countries.
Established in 1994, InterHealth Canada has employed over 5,000 professionals worldwide and has provided healthcare to a combined population of over 20 million people. InterHealth Canada is committed to delivering internationally accredited healthcare management services with an emphasis on investment returns. The head office is located in Toronto, Canada, with regional offices in Riyadh, London, Providenciales, Grand Turks, Warsaw and Dubai.
| Industry: | Healthcare |
| Capital Invested: | £10.0 million |
| Annualized Royalty Payments to Duke: | £1.35 million |
| Website: | www.interhealthcanada.com |
| Partner Since: | August 2018 |
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United Glass Group is the holding company to its three operating subsidiaries – Tufwell, PLG and BGC and as a group is one of the UK’s leading independent glass merchants and processors.
The Group has supplied glass to prominent projects such as the Shard skyscraper, London’s Olympic Park, the British Museum, the Bowes Museum, Sage Gateshead, as well as Fenwicks and Selfridges department stores.
BGC, established in 1979, is based in the Midlands and serves trade customers, architects, interior designers, construction professionals and private home owners throughout the West Midlands and beyond. Its products and services range from the supply of plain glass from stock to sophisticated processing, and it holds extensive stocks of plain glass, safety glass, fire glass and horticultural glass, available for next day delivery using its own fleet of vehicles.
Tufwell, established in the 1980s, is based in West Sussex and, with its own dedicated glass tempering facility, is a specialist glass supplier of glazed partitioning, primarily servicing the London office market. By using state-of-the-art machinery, coupled with a highly skilled workforce, Tufwell is able to compete in the demanding market of London’s commercial building sector. Many of its products and services are used to supply the architectural glazing and interiors markets, with order to delivery completed in a short period of time.
PLG, established in 1977, is based in North East England and has a state of the art processing facility which caters to the most demanding commercial glass installations including oversized and/or curved glass. Its commercial glass services include internal and external glass doors, screens, shop fronts, glass balustrades, glass staircases, glass entrances and other bespoke architectural glass installations.
| Industry: | Manufacturing |
| Capital Invested: | £12.3 million |
| Annualized Royalty Payments to Duke: | £1.06 million (from April 2019) |
| Website: | www.tufwellglass.co.uk www.peterleeglass.com www.brownhillsglass.com |
| Partner Since: | April 2018 |
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Trimite is a 70-year-old UK private company that formulates and manufactures high performance and technologically superior coatings and paints for speciality industrial markets. It has more than 120 employees in four UK plants based in Birmingham, the Midlands and West London.
The company is a key supplier of industrial coatings to several global brands and organisations in sectors including defence and aerospace, agricultural and construction equipment, and automotive. Trimite has a history of profitable operations in highly technical applications, has low debt and enjoys robust gross margins relative to the overall paint industry.
Trimite is majority-owned by Chairman David Roberts and led by a highly experienced team of executives who have spent their careers in the UK manufacturing sector and in senior management positions in global coatings suppliers like Akzo Nobel. With this in mind, Trimite is well-positioned to expand its market presence and take advantage of its strong and growing sales pipeline.
| Industry: | Manufacturing |
| Capital Invested: | £11.00 million |
| Annualized Royalty Payments to Duke: | £1.39 million |
| Website: | www.trimite.com |
| Partner Since: | March 2018 |
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Lynx Equity (U.K) Ltd. (“Lynx”) is the subsidiary of Lynx Equity Ltd. (“Lynx Equity”), a Toronto-based private company founded over 10 years ago with a portfolio of over 40 operating companies that seeks to acquire, own, and operate mature, old-economy businesses, with no intent of sale. Lynx seeks to pursue investments in mid-market companies ($750,000 – $2.5M EBITDA) with the goal of building value through opportunistic acquisitions, strategic leadership and the timely use of financial expertise. Lynx established its European operations in 2017 with its first acquisitions in the U.K., and will be expanding through further acquisitions. Duke Royalty has secured the position as Lynx’s preferred European capital partner for such acquisitions, with Duke committing up to £15 million to support the initial expansion.
| Industry: | Industrials |
| Capital Invested: | £13.00 million |
| Annualized Royalty Payments to Duke: | £1.59 million |
| Website: | www.lynxequity.com |
| Partner Since: | October 2017 |
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Fabrikat was founded in 1985 and is now the largest independently owned manufacturer of lighting columns and guardrails in the UK. Fabrikat designs, manufactures and supplies street lighting columns, traffic management and telecommunication structures, pedestrian guardrail, parapet, fencing and street furniture products. Leveraging its decades of experience and expertise in manufacturing and engineering, it has broadened its offering to include column testing, evaluation and asset management services.
Fabrikat has a diverse and expanding customer base, supplying local authorities, contractors, developers, specifiers, wholesalers, and lighting OEMs. Increasingly it is pivoting into higher margin, bespoke sub-sectors.
Two members of the MBO Team have been at the company for more than 30 years and across the management team there is deep technical expertise in the steel fabrication market. The company is based in Sutton-in-Ashfield, UK and employs c.80 staff across its production and administrative functions.
| Industry: | Steel Fabrication |
| Capital Invested: | £6.2 million |
| Annualized Royalty Payments to Duke: | £0.868 million |
| Website: | www.fabrikat.co.uk |
| Partner Since: | February 2021 |
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Exits
Established in 2006, Welltel is an Irish-based business communications company led by founding CEO Ross Murray. It is one of the largest independent voice and data providers in Ireland, selling integrated telephony systems and connectivity solutions to over 3,000 corporates and government bodies.
Welltel operates in a rapidly evolving market with significant potential for growth, both organically and through acquisition. The Company is focused on gaining increased market share through the delivery of end-to-end communication and connectivity solutions for its enterprise customers. In 2018 Welltel was awarded the prestigious Deloitte Fast 50 award for the fifth consecutive year.
Duke first invested in Welltel in June 2017 and provided five rounds of investment, totalling £13.7m. Four of these five rounds were used to fund M&A including ATS, Eyrco, Invistech and Novi as part of Welltel’s ongoing “buy and build” plan. Duke’s flexible, long term capital was key to facilitating Welltel’s ambitious strategy during the time of its investment, and we’re proud to have supported them during a period of significant growth. Duke exited in December 2020 when the business was recapitalised by a Private Equity Partner.
| Industry: | Business Telecom |
| Website: | www.welltelgroup.com |
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Founded in 2014, Xtremepush is a global Multi-Channel Experience and Engagement Marketing Platform headquartered in Dublin but with offices in the UK, US, and Eastern Europe. The company enable hundreds of leading enterprise brands to drive engagement and increase revenue.
Duke invested £2.0m in XtremePush in early 2018, to facilitate the successful acquisition of Emailcenter, a leading UK Email Service Provider.
In September 2020, XtremePush took the decision to move to another capital provider due to stage it had reached in its growth lifecycle. The flexibility of Duke’s capital solution and the ability for XtremePush to choose the timing of its refinancing event was key to allow it to focus on the execution of its global expansion plan.
| Industry: | B2B Technology |
| Website: | www.xtremepush.com |
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Temarca, a family owned business established in 1997, operates multi-day riverboat cruises along the Rhine and Danube rivers, providing passengers with an experience focussing on the scenery, local history, culture, and cuisine of each city along the way. Each of Temarca’s three riverboats have 60 – 75 cabins and are staffed with 30 – 35 employees. Through the years, the company has built strong relationships with numerous agencies that sell-out boat capacity years in advance, providing Temarca with a significant amount of forward visibility on their sales. Temarca operates within the largest segment of the market, combining luxury amenities with competitive prices.
River cruises are a very distinct segment from ocean cruises, and are growing at about double the ocean cruise growth rate due to the unique and intimate cultural experience offered. The growth of the international river cruise industry, specifically, is expected to be supported by a growing retirement age population, better health of older individuals, growing demand for land-based exploration, and increasing popularity of riverboats with younger generations.
| Industry: | Hospitality & Leisure |
| Website: | www.sijfacruises.nl |
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