Octopus Investments, a UK fund management company, has announced the completion of a ‘significant investment’ in Anglo European Group, one of the UK’s largest suppliers of specialist steel sections for window and door reinforcement.
Anglo European was founded in 1990 and has been successfully managed by Paul and Chris Sullivan. Since 1990 it has grown to become a market leader in its specialist areas. Anglo’s ‘cut to size’ proposition, which helps window manufacturers to make significant savings on reinforcement, is said to differentiate its offering and has reportedly enabled the business to establish a high share of its market. Anglo now works with approximately 400 customers.
In April 2014, Anglo acquired Marybern Rolled Products, a competitor located in North Wales, which provided the company with additional manufacturing capacity and storage. The new strategic partnership sees Paul and Chris Sullivan release some of their equity to Octopus. CEO Paul Sullivan will become the majority shareholder in Anglo, while Chris Sullivan will reduce his stake in the business.
Peter Toland, previously CEO of Autologic, a provider of aftermarket automotive diagnosis also backed by Octopus, will become chairman of Anglo.
Octopus and Toland will now assist Anglo in pursuing its expansion strategy, enabling the company to reach more customers both in the UK and abroad.
Paul Sullivan, CEO of Anglo, said: “This significant investment will allow Anglo to provide greater support for our customer base, while the appointment of Peter Toland as our new chairman will be invaluable to our firm, given his significant business expertise. Octopus has an exceptional track record of backing companies like ours to help achieve success through organic growth, and we are delighted with the support they have provided as we seek to meet our ambitions for the business in the very near future.”
Grant Paul-Florence, head of the Intermediate Capital team at Octopus, said: “Anglo is an established and market leading business with an experienced management team, a unique market position and strong growth prospects. We are looking forward to working with Paul, Chris, Peter and the team as they take the business forward and move into the next exciting phase of development.”
