WHP Telecoms
WHP provides end-to-end services for the deployment, upgrade and maintenance of mobile telephone networks for the network operators such as Vodafone and O2. The business is one of only a small number of ‘tier one’ support service companies operating in its sector.
We were looking for a partner who understood what we wanted to achieve and could help guide us on our strategic decision-making.
Working with WHP Telecoms...
Investment process
We invested £3 million as part of an equity release deal for the three existing directors, taking a minority shareholding in the Company. We carefully crafted an investment structure to enable the directors to maximise the value of their equity release while leaving them with a significant majority shareholding which was a key requirement of the deal.
Growth process
The Company was ideally positioned to take advantage of the huge increase in demand for mobile telephony services and the need to roll-out and increase the bandwidth required to meet this demand. In order to position the Company to maximise this market opportunity, investment in the business and the Board was required including the recruitment of a Finance Director and a Chairman from our network.
Exit process
The operational and structural improvements in the Company resulted in an uplift in value of 175% at exit. Staff numbers increased significantly as a result of WHP’s growth, with over 100 additional employees joining the team during our period of involvement, and turnover increased by 70%. As a result of the actions taken and the higher profile achieved, the Company was approached by a private equity investor which made a very attractive off-market offer. This led to a secondary £38 million buyout, just two years after our initial investment, where the three director-shareholders were able to realise further significant amounts and continue in their roles and benefit from further growth.