Key Capital Partners’ first investment in Templine Recruitment

Independent private equity fund, Key Capital Partners (KCP), has made the first investment from its maiden fund, backing the management buy-out of a Birmingham-based recruitment company.
Templine Recruitment Limited, which has branches in Leeds, Luton, Coventry and Leicester, provides temporary labour to customers in the distribution, warehousing and industrial sectors. The company also provides ‘on site’ recruitment services to a number of major logistics and distribution companies.

KCP has invested £4.3million to acquire a significant minority stake in the business, and back the management team led by managing director Tony Bucciero and newly appointed non-executive chairman, Stewart Rogers.

Partner at KCP, Owen Trotter, who will also join the board of Templine as a non-executive director, commented: “Templine has a clear focus on customer service, which has resulted in impressive growth over the last few years. Tony and his team have a strong plan for the continued development of the business and we are looking forward to working with them.”

Tony Bucciero added: “The distribution, warehousing and industrial sectors have remained particularly buoyant throughout the UK and have a strong need for dedicated recruitment services. We will aim to continue to build on the good reputation we have in this sector and expand on the services we offer to respond to the needs of the market.”

Senior debt and working capital facilities for the deal were provided by Yorkshire Bank Specialist and Acquisition Finance, led by Ian Howey and Ian Mansell. Commenting on the deal Mansell added: “We are delighted to have supported Key Capital Partners in their investment and are particularly pleased that this has involved a Birmingham based business with excellent prospects, led by a dynamic management team.”
KCP was advised by Sean Fitzgerald and Adrian Cutler of Cobbetts and Graham Elsworth and Dougal Baxter of BDO Stoy Hayward, whilst Templine’s management team was advised by Simon Clewlow and Martyn Pilley of Grant Thornton and Paul Wakefield of BPE.

Simon Clewlow, assistant director at Grant Thornton in Birmingham, commented: "This transaction demonstrates that, in the mid-market, bank and private equity appetite for high quality growth businesses such as Templine remains strong, despite fears about the impact of the recent credit crunch.

"With Tony's drive and eye for customer service, coupled with the KCP team's sector credentials and their ability to add real value to the business, we expect Templine to be one of the big success stories of the next few years."