Background
Headquartered in Tipton, West Midlands and OEM Manufacturing in Taiwan, V.N.A. Trucks Limited is a leading specialist forklift truck manufacturer, with products suited to confined and very narrow warehouse operations. The business comprises two separate operating companies, Narrow Aisle Limited (NAL), which sells trucks, spares and maintenance services and Flexi Forklift Rental Limited (FFRL), which provides short and long-term rental of Flexi trucks and masts.
Rationale
The business was seeking fresh capital to pursue overseas expansion plans. The existing shareholders also wished to retire and pursue other interests.
Outcome
A Quantuma team, led by partner Mark Lucas and director Fardeen Nariman provided lead financial advice to the management team and shareholders.
A competitive process was run from which Arbuthnot were selected as the preferred investment partner.
Arbuthnot Bank provided the debt investment and this transition saw the acquisition of the controlling shareholding by the current management team and facilitated the retirement of the two founder shareholders.
Quotes
Mark Lucas, Partner at Quantuma, said: “We are delighted to have been able to assist the shareholders and management team in securing growth capital which will help the company to further expand on its international profile. The business benefits from a strong management team, who will continue to execute on their growth strategy.”
John Maguire, Managing Director of V.N.A. Trucks Limited, commented: “Mark and Fardeen have delivered a great result for the management team and the business. They ran a smooth process with no surprises. The momentum in our sector is very positive as countries develop intralogistics structures around the world and this deal is an important step in allowing us to maximise our potential in delivering our business plans.”
