Translinc

We invested in TransLinc (via a holding company, Senturion) in June 2007, leading a buy-in management buyout valued at £50 million and backing a management team with extensive industry experience. We offered a full equity underwrite to underpin our deliverability.

TransLinc is one of the country’s foremost suppliers of specialist vehicles to local authorities, primarily on a contract hire basis. The business also provides specialist transport services, particularly for passengers with special needs. Both markets are growing and fragmented, with significant potential for consolidation.

We were attracted to the opportunity to invest in a market leading services business with long-term embedded contracts (which typically range from three to ten years) and high revenue visibility. The company operates in a sector, which has continued to benefit from the ongoing trend towards local authorities outsourcing non-core activities as a way of maximising efficiency against a backdrop of significant budgeting cuts. TransLinc’s contract hire offering enables savings to both capital and operational budgets without compromising the delivery of front-line services.

TransLinc is distinguished in its market by its ability to offer customers a bespoke ‘one-stop’ service and by its excellent relationships with the key decision makers in its industry. The business was originally formed within Lincolnshire County Council to provide in-house contract hire with maintenance. In 1992, after securing a number of contracts, TransLinc became a trading entity and then in 1998, the business underwent a management buyout, prior to RJD’s investment in 2007.

Post investment, TransLinc performed well, with significant investment made in its management team, IT infrastructure and systems. Despite the challenging economic backdrop TransLinc successfully expanded its core local authority contract base and entered complementary new market sectors (such as infrastructure services and the utilities sector), building on the expertise and experience of its senior management, led by CEO Paul Wood and FD David Foulds.

We realised our investment in TransLinc through a trade sale to May Gurney Integrated Services plc in November 2011.  The transaction valued TransLinc at £65.6 million, giving a return to RJD of approximately 2.7x its original investment and an IRR of 26%.  TransLinc was the second realisation from our second fund.

We are delighted to have worked with such a focused and successful management team and believe the business represents a strategic and compelling acquisition for May Gurney.

To discuss TransLinc in more detail, please contact John Dillon .