Railex Ltd, comprising Railex Filing Ltd, an industry-leading supplier of paper filing products, and Railex Storage Ltd, one of the UK’s premier designers and manufacturers of metal storage products, have been acquired in a Management Buy In, in a deal led by Bolton based KBS Corporate.
The acquisition marks the first time in Railex’s 105 year history that the link will be broken with the founding Wilson family.
Originally established by Frank Wilson and his wife as WH Hilton in 1908, the £3.5m turnover group of companies is now spread over two sites. Railex Storage, based in Essex, produces a wide range of filing cabinets, mobile storage and bespoke storage solutions. Railex Filing is based in Southport and is a leading manufacturer of office and large format files, wallets and folders.
The buyers, Andrew Ferguson and Raymond Crane, acquired 100% of the shares of Railex Limited for an undisclosed sum just prior to Christmas. Andrew Ferguson is a serial investor in manufacturing and engineering businesses and Raymond Crane has a number of business interests including a successful recycling business in Northern Ireland.
Funding for the transaction was sourced by the buyers using asset backed lending and factoring facilities. The buyers were represented by Robin Gill of Storrar Cowdry.
It is understood that all shareholders will exit the Company with immediate effect, but will receive rental income from the Southport property going forward having taken control of the freehold in a sale and leaseback transaction.
Guy Haynes, Senior Deal Executive at KBS Corporate led the deal, with Gateley LLP’s Manchester office providing legal representation for the vendors. Guy commented, “It was evident from the outset that there was significant trade interest in both Railex entities. I spoke to a number of different buyers within both sectors, especially in the storage sector. However, it became clear that ultimately, the best solution for our clients came from the eventual buyers, who held an interest in the whole group rather than just one of the subsidiaries.”
KBS Corporate
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