THE DEAL:
The sale by Lowe & Fletcher Limited of BLE Lighting & Power Limited to Australian-owned Red Arrow Trading group. BLE Lighting & Power is a leading name in the provision of emergency lighting products and solutions and emergency power systems. It supplies to a broad customer base of wholesalers, contractors and end users from its manufacturing and distribution base close to Sheffield. Bridgnorth-headquartered Lowe & Fletcher is a well-known manufacturer of locking systems under the Lowe & Fletcher and Euro-Locks brands and of fire safety and security systems through its BLE Smoke & Fire Curtains and Coopers Fire businesses. Red Arrow is an importer and distributor of lighting and electrical equipment to the electrical wholesale industry from its Sheffield base.
OUR ROLE:
Lowe & Fletcher wished to dispose of its emergency lighting business in order to concentrate on its core business areas of locking systems and fire safety and security systems. We were appointed to manage a full sales process which included identifying the key attributes of the business, carving out operations to be retained by Lowe & Fletcher, and presenting the business for sale. With maintaining a confidential process being a key factor, our strategy was to approach a short-list of purchasers carefully identified as having a strong product fit, and therefore the potential for achieving synergies, as well as having the financial capacity to conclude a deal efficiently. Red Arrow closely fitted these objectives and was motivated to conclude a transaction in order to strengthen its own emergency lighting offering.
WHAT OUR CLIENT SAID:
“We appointed Cattaneo to advise us on the best way to present the business for sale and then find a suitable partner. Their team moved the process along efficiently, keeping the momentum going while making contact with buyers, soliciting offers and structuring and negotiating the deal with the preferred bidder. We were very pleased with the result, selling the business to a good home with the entire workforce being retained and with a bright future.”
Giles Birt, Group Finance Director, Lowe & Fletcher
