Inflexion is delighted to announce that it has reached the milestone of completing 50 exits since its inception, collectively returning over £4.5bn to investors and delivering a realised return of 3.6x and a 39% IRR.
In the first eight months of 2022 alone, Inflexion has announced ten exits including Alcumus, Marley, Phenna, Succession and Virgin Experience Days, with a total enterprise value of over £3.6bn. These companies more than doubled their EBITDA during the period of Inflexion’s investment.
Three core fund strategies differentiate Inflexion’s offering: the majority ownership Buyout Fund; Partnership Capital, dedicated to minority investments; and Enterprise Fund, catering specifically to the lower mid-market. These funds can invest from £10m to £400m of equity in a variety of different situations, with each tailored to the unique growth prospects and ambitions of the leadership team.
The success of these funds is based on Inflexion’s proven investment strategy of backing high-growth, high-margin businesses led by ambitious leadership teams. Their growth plans are supported by Inflexion’s experience and dedicated value acceleration team which focuses on M&A, international expansion, digital enhancement, talent development, commercial strategy and sustainability focus. All investments, whether minority or majority and regardless of size, have full access to this invaluable resource.
Recent successful exits include:
Buyout
- Alcumus – Inflexion drove significant UK and international growth before selling to Apax in 2022 to generate a 5.9x return. Partnership Capital subsequently reinvested for a minority stake
- Marley – Inflexion led the buyout of Marley in 2019 and exited the business at a £535m valuation in 2022 to UK-listed Marshalls. This followed a near doubling of EBITDA whilst carbon emissions reduced by a third during the investment
Partnership Capital
- Phenna – The business completed 23 acquisitions in just 18 months across six countries resulting in a doubling of EBITDA. Oakley Capital recently exchanged contracts to acquire a minority investment in the business from Inflexion, generating a 5.6x return
- Medivet – The chain delivered an ambitious roll-out in the UK and Europe with Inflexion’s backing which doubled headcount and its number of sites before being sold to CVC in 2021, resulting in a 3.3x return
- Huws Gray – The company completed 16 acquisitions with Inflexion’s minority backing, including the transformational purchase of Ridgeons to become the largest independent builders merchants in the UK. During the partnership with Inflexion, the company ultimately doubled the number of sites, more than doubled headcount and increased profits by 2.5x before being sold to Blackstone in 2021, delivering a 3.6x return
Enterprise
- Halo – The business was created by Inflexion in 2017 by bringing together UK-based ProLabs with AddOn in the US. Halo saw profits grow 10x during Inflexion’s investment through successful M&A and international growth, resulting in a 6.1x return for Inflexion when it was sold to a US-listed trade buyer for $715m in 2021
- Virgin Experience Days – The business worked with Inflexion’s in-house Digital team to improve the consumer proposition and attract new customers, while an acquisition in the US created access to a significant market opportunity and future growth avenue. Inflexion sold a majority stake in the business to Equistone in 2022 and retains a minority shareholding
It’s been a great privilege to work with 50 businesses through to exit and we are incredibly proud of what we have helped them to accomplish. Throughout our 20+ year history Inflexion has had a consistent strategy of backing ambitious teams to accelerate their growth, with each new investment giving us more experience to draw on. We would like to thank all of the founders, entrepreneurs and management teams we have backed as well as the Inflexion team for their contribution to this success.
