We are delighted to have advised Beech Tree Private Equity on their acquisition of Redstor.
Redstor Holdings Limited (Redstor) was formed in June 1998 by Paul Evans and Tony Ruane as a reseller/integrator providing backup, storage and archiving solutions to enterprises.
Redstor acquired Attix5 in September 2015 which has allowed the Group to develop its own software IP and operate as a software as a service (SaaS) business. The business has expanded its offering to incorporate cloud archiving and disaster recovery with plans to release data insight functionality to address compliance challenges such as the GDPR.
In 2017, the shareholders took the decision to recognise the growing value of the business and bring on board a new partner to work with management to deliver future growth plans. Recognising our market-leading technology sector expertise, Beech Tree PE LLP (Beech Tree) appointed our corporate finance advisory team to advise on this investment and ensure it was well placed in a competitive auction process.
Beech Tree is a private equity firm providing capital and expertise to fast-growing businesses across the UK; investing £10-£40 million into high growth companies typically valued at between £10 and £75 million.
We provided advice on valuation benchmarking, deal strategy and exit positioning; as well as undertaking the project management for the transaction to ensure momentum continued through to completion of the transaction. We also provided debt advisory services on the investment to Beech Tree delivering an attractive funding package, including acquisition lines, through a competitive debt process with a number of banks.
There were a number of complexities in the business resulting from the transformation of Redstor into a SaaS business over recent years, following the acquisition of Attix 5, and in understanding the fundamental drivers underpinning the future growth in the data management market. Our work involved developing a detailed understanding of management’s growth plans and the related underlying business drivers.
We built a strong relationship with management and worked quickly and efficiently in line with a tight timetable throughout the various work streams, to ensure that the transaction progressed as planned with as little disruption to the management team as possible. Our work also included providing input and advice on the various deal mechanics whilst maintaining control and momentum of the overall process.
