Cattaneo Corporate Finance has advised the shareholders of Kigass Aero Components on its sale to Hanover-backed Llanelec Precision Engineering.
A fourth generation family business founded in 1924, Warwick-based Kigass is one of Britain’s longest-established precision engineering businesses specialising in high-integrity machined components for aero-engines including fuel injectors, fuel burners, fuel manifolds and oil jets for civil and defence aerospace programmes as well as precision components for world-leading motorsport applications.
Kigass will continue to be led by Managing Director Peter Platt, who will guide the business through its transition into the Llanelec Group and remain closely involved thereafter. The acquisition marks a significant step for Llanelec, which is backed by Hanover Investors’ Active Equity Fund III, as it deepens the group’s aerospace capability alongside its established defence business, broadens its customer base, and brings together two complementary precision-machining teams with a shared commitment to quality and long-term customer partnership.
The Cattaneo team of Martyn Pilley and Oliver Lowe advised the Kigass shareholders throughout the process from initial discussions, through negotiation of heads of terms and due diligence to legal completion. Legal advice was provided to the Kigass shareholders by the Birmingham office of Mills & Reeve. Llanelec and Hanover were advised by Foot Anstey (legal), Heligan Group (corporate finance) and Interpath (financial and tax due diligence).
Spencer John, CEO of Llanelec, commented:
“Kigass impressed us from the moment we met the team: the quality record, the capability, and above all the people. Businesses like this, with a hundred years of machining heritage, are rare. This acquisition is a major step in our goal to build a leading defence and aerospace engineering group, and we are delighted to welcome Peter and the whole Kigass team.”
Joanne Wardman-Smith, exiting shareholder of Kigass, said:
“I am convinced that Kigass is in the right hands to not only safeguard its future but to take advantage of the opportunities that are out there for high quality UK manufacturing businesses while continuing to set the standard for exceptional British engineering and manufacturing started by my great grandfather over 100 years ago. I would like to thank the Cattaneo team for all their advice and hard work. Selling your family business inevitably holds certain emotional challenges and we really appreciated the team’s accessibility as well as their straight forward advice while taking us through the process.”
Commenting on the transaction, Oliver Lowe, Associate Director at Cattaneo, added:
“As a fourth generation family business it was essential that the buyer provided the right fit both operationally and culturally with Kigass. In a growing and highly regulated global aerospace market, scale is important and the attitude of all parties allowed us to navigate the inevitable transaction challenges to build a group which is well-placed to deliver its strategic plan.”
