Orbis Advise On Taking SWP Private In £18 Million Deal

Orbis Partners acted as lead advisors to the management team who recently launched a recommended offer to acquire AIM-listed SWP in order to return the business to private ownership.

SWP designs, manufactures and installs a range of industrial engineered products and systems, serving international markets in the oil, gas & petrochemical, construction and water utilities sectors. The group operates through subsidiaries ULVA and Fullflow, and has operations in Cambridgeshire, Sheffield, Rotherham and Telford.

SWP’s management team set up Friars 716 Ltd in July this year for the purposes of making the offer to take SWP private. The newly established business is wholly owned by the management team, consisting of Alan Walker, Colin Stott, David Pett and Martin Bell, who are also its four directors. Under the terms of the deal, shareholders will receive 9p for each SWP share, valuing the business at about £18.3m.

“As a private company, SWP will be better able to weather the feast and famine nature associated with transacting a small number of large projects.”
Alan Walker, Chairman

“SWP is too small to benefit from maintaining a public quotation and AIM has not provided SWP’s shareholders with sufficient liquidity, with some feeling trapped.
As a private company, SWP will be better able to weather the feast and famine nature associated with transacting a small number of large projects. I therefore believe that the offer is in the best interests of shareholders as a whole and I look forward with great optimism to working with all stakeholders to continue the successful development of the business.”
Alan Walker, Chairman

“The nature of this transaction together with a significant amount of the business in the oil and gas sector presented a number of challenges in this deal. We were delighted to obtain funding support from HSBC, and put together a team of other advisors to execute this project.”
Chris Gregory, Partner