Swindon & Wiltshire News
Woodhouse Partnership acquired by RSK, brokered by Watersheds
Industrial and infrastructure asset management consultancy The Woodhouse Partnership (TWPL) has been sold in a deal completed by Swindon-based corporate finance specialists Watersheds.
Newbury-based TWPL has been acquired by the RSK Group who own 200 environmental, engineering and technical services businesses.
MD John Woodhouse, one of the 1994 founding members of TWPL, will continue to lead the business as part of the RSK Group.
Watersheds partners Tim Harrington and John Stopher worked on the deal.
Tim Harrington said: “I quickly recognised that the business would be very attractive to an international organisation with the ability to take TWPL to a larger scale and realise its full potential.
“However, it was also important to John Woodhouse that any such investor shared the TWPL values, with a business model that would not stifle the company’s creativity.
“It was also imperative to John that his Corporate Finance Advisors had the capability to see the process through from beginning to end, including advising on the right time, and on the right terms, to sell and attain the best value.
“TWPL comprises two UK companies and three overseas entities in North America and South America, so it has been a complex transaction from the outset,” said Tim Harrington.
“John’s schedule involves a lot of worldwide travel, and while the deal was progressing TWPL was undergoing a rapid growth phase, so the fact that we were able to drive the deal to completion meant John could keep focused on running the business without losing momentum.
“We identified RSK as the buyer that not only met John’s criteria perfectly, but also were in a position to buy at the point where TWPL had reached a pivotal point in its growth journey. This sale gives TWPL access to essential additional resources at RSK to capitalise on the rapid worldwide increase in demand for the business services it provides.”
John Woodhouse said: “Watersheds have worked alongside me for several years and have advised me and my colleagues very well through the intricacies of this deal so that we have been able to continue working as normal, minimising distractions.
“For a company like ours, whose work tends to come from reputation and word-of-mouth recommendations between major multinational clients, it’s essential that we can concentrate on our clients’ needs. So having Watersheds do all the heavy lifting for us was incredibly helpful.
“With the current TWPL workload, it was invaluable that the sale process was being handled by people with the expertise, experience and pragmatism that would produce a great deal for all concerned.”
Pictured: Watersheds partners Tim Harrington and John Stopher (standing) with John Woodhouse (seated)
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