Rochdale’s EU Fire & Security acquired by £500m-turnover firm

The founders of fire alarm distributor EU Fire & Security have sold the company to Newbury Investments, a Berkshire-based holding company with annual revenues over £500m.

Advisory firm Grant Thornton’s Manchester corporate finance team acted for business partners Martin Crossley and Mark Walsh in the transaction with trade buyer Newbury Investments.

Established in Rochdale 15 years ago, EU Fire & Security now has a turnover of more than £12m and employs 25 people across the UK.

In addition to its core fire alarm business, the firm distributes a range of other life safety and security products.

Following the deal, EU Fire & Security will be part of Newbury Investments’ subsidiary Norbain Holdings, a distributor of CCTV, access control and intruder detection systems.

Martin Crossley and Mark Walsh said in a joint statement: “We felt that now was the right time for us to find a strategic acquirer for our business to allow it to fulfil its potential and move to the next phase in its development.

“We are sure that in Newbury Investments, we have found a great home for EU Fire & Security and we would like to thank the Grant Thornton Corporate Finance team for its hard work and strategic advice, leading to this very positive outcome.”

Peter Terry, head of Grant Thornton’s North West corporate finance advisory team, was assisted in the deal by corporate finance managers Daniel Brecker and Jacob Leone.

Mr Terry commented: “It has been a pleasure to work with the founders of EU Fire & Security to achieve the result their hard work deserves.

“We are seeing significant activity levels in the building services sector, from both trade acquirers and from private equity firms, which reflects both the importance of fire safety and the highly fragmented market place.”

A Hill Dickinson team led by partner Ian Riggs, with support from associate Sean Lightfoot, provided legal advice to the EU Fire & Security shareholders.

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