VCT News
Beringea Backs MBO of The Vending Corporation
28 August 2007 - London - Beringea Ltd, manager of the ProVen VCTs, has backed a MBO of The Vending Corporation Ltd. Beringea completed the management buyout of The Vending Corporation, the UK’s leading independent distributor of chilled beverage and snack vending machines. The Vending Corporation represents a number of vending machine manufacturers, in the UK and most of continental Europe. The Vending Corporation’s customer base includes many major retail brands and European vending operating companies.
The company was acquired from Terry Bingham, who founded the business 30 years ago. The MBO team is led by Alan Cooper, who has been MD of the company since 2000, and Nick Bingham, the Marketing Director and son of the founder. They will be joined by a non-executive Chairman, Lindsay Copland, who was previously a Regional Managing Director for Tyco Fire and Integrated Solutions.
The Vending Corporation is aiming for significant growth over the next three years, based on rapid market uptake of glass-front chilled beverage vending machines, which generate significantly higher revenues than traditional vendors. The company is also planning a major increase in its European operations.
Beringea invested £2 million through ProVen VCT and ProVen Growth & Income VCT, for a significant minority equity stake. The transaction was led by Beringea Managing Director Stuart Veale, who has joined The Vending Corporation’s board. Debt finance for the transaction was provided by Nat West and RBS Invoice Finance.
Stuart Veale, Managing Director of Beringea, commented "The MBO of this highly profitable business by a strong and established management team is a great investment opportunity for Beringea. As the leading distributor of glass-front chilled beverage vending machines, The Vending Corporation is uniquely positioned to implement the switch to these units throughout the UK and Europe".
Vending Corporation MD Alan Cooper commented "The management team are delighted to have acquired the company, with support from Beringea, at this exciting point in its development. We are looking forward to working with Beringea over the next few years to take maximum advantage of the significant growth opportunities in the market."
Advisers
Equity: Dundas & Wilson (Simon Sale, Nadim Meer and Allison Keyse), Legal; Hurst Morrison Thomson (Andrew Thomson and Catherine Lister), Financial DD; ciL (Tom Ellson), Commercial DD
Management: Devonshire Corporate Finance (Marc Fecher), Corporate Finance; Cobbetts (Victoria Zivkovic, Mark Davies), Legal
Vendor: Mundays (Peter Munday and Chris Saunders), Legal
About Beringea
Beringea is an international venture capital firm with offices in London and Detroit. In the UK Beringea manages ProVen VCT, ProVen Health VCT, ProVen Growth & Income VCT and Global Rights Fund II. Beringea launched its first VCT in 1996, making it one of the most experienced VCT managers in the UK. ProVen Growth & Income and ProVen VCT are highest performing VCTs of their launch years, respectively, according to www.taxefficientreview.com. For more information please visit www.provenvcts.co.uk.