Graphite Capital has sold talent acquisition and management services company Alexander Mann Solutions to New Mountain Capital for 260 million pounds. Graphite backed the management buyout of AMS in 2007.
Press Release
Today, Graphite Capital (“Graphite”), the UK mid-market private equity firm, announced the sale of Alexander Mann Solutions (“AMS”) to New Mountain Capital (“New Mountain”), a US private equity firm, for £260m.
Working under long term contracts with a blue-chip, multinational client base, AMS integrates outsourcing capability and consulting expertise to enable organisations to attract, engage and retain the best employees. These talent acquisition and management services span the entire recruitment cycle from initial hiring through career management to outplacement.
AMS was founded by chief executive Rosaleen Blair, a pioneer of recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) in the UK. Graphite backed the £100 million management buy-out of AMS in December 2007. Shortly thereafter, it supported the acquisition of Capital Consulting, the second largest dedicated RPO in the UK, creating a platform for growth in the Asia Pacific region.
The company was founded in 1996 by chief executive, Rosaleen Blair, the Veuve Clicquot 2007 Business Woman of the Year. After 17 years of strong growth, AMS now has almost 2,000 staff serving clients in more than 75 countries.
Robert W. Baird, a leading mid-market investment bank, were the sole investment banking adviser to Graphite and the other shareholders on the sale of the company. Baird originally advised Advent on the £100m sale of AMS to Graphite in 2007.
David Silver, Head of European Investment Banking at Baird, said:
“The sale of a UK HQ’ed company of this size to a US private equity firm (without operations in Europe) is relatively rare and highlights both the strength of the appetite of the global private equity market for high quality assets and the benefit of a global investment banking adviser in the mid-market.”
The deal follows Graphite’s sale of NES Global Talent, a recruitment business serving the oil and gas industry, to AEA in October 2012. Baird also advised Graphite on this transaction.
The deal is another example of Baird’s strong track record in business services, which includes recent deals such as:
. Sale of Nair & Co. to HgCapital
. Sale of Inenco to Vitruvian Partners
. Acquisition of Isotrak for Lyceum Capital
With 250 investment banking professionals and offices in the United States, Europe and Asia, Baird leverages its truly global reach to its advisory work, having completed M&A deals in 24 different countries since 2007.
