Brockton Capital and Brydell Partners have backed the management buyout of polystyrene producer Jablite with a £16.5m sale and leaseback of its industrial property portfolio.
The innovative deal gives Brockton and Brydell a 420,000 sq ft portfolio of sheds in five locations.
Jablite has agreed to rent them back at average rents of £3.78 per sq ft, reflecting a circa 9% yield.
Participating in the management buyout alongside Mobeus Equity Partners, which provided a £5m equity injection, Brockton and Brydell effectively secured a discount on the real estate assets.
It is the latest example of how new private equity firms are using innovative structures to achieve value in the increasingly competitive commercial real estate market.
Brydell was founded in 2014 by former Brockton duo Charlie Desmond and Dan Kelly. The firm has recently hired Richard Fell as an associate from Ellis Short’s Kildare Partners.
Desmond said: “We are delighted to back an experienced and successful management team and the dominant EPS manufacturer in the UK. The assets have been acquired off low, sustainable rental levels in good locations across the UK.”
In April, Jablite managing director Richard Lee led a £26m management buyout of the business from European owner Synbra.
The new management-owned company has combined annual sales of £44m and 140 employees across the UK, and supplies products for the housebuilding industry.
Jablite was represented by Doherty Baines and Grant Thornton; Knight Frank advised Brydell in Bracknell.
