Livingstone Drives Another Deal
January 2008
The UK’s market leading chauffeuring service to airline and corporate customers has been acquired in a $19.5m management buy-out backed by middle market investor Octopus Private Equity.
London-based Tristar Worldwide Chauffeur Services (www.tristarworldwide.com) is one of the world's leading chauffeur companies, carrying over 400,000 passengers for 400 clients in 2007 alone. The business operates in 44 countries, with its own vehicles in the UK and a rapidly expanding service in the US. It has a blue-chip customer base which includes Virgin, Emirates, BP, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch.
The Business Services team worked closely with Tristar in 2007, including conducting a strategic review in late summer. Following the review it was agreed that management would be given an opportunity to acquire the business in an MBO, and Livingstone advised on securing the best possible terms. The vendors included a number of City luminaries including Jim Dale of Carphone Warehouse, Hugh Osmond and Luke Johnson. Osmond and Johnson previously acquired and floated Pizza Express in 1993, growing the business to a market capitalisation of over $1bn by 1999. Osmond subsequently founded Sun Capital, a specialist provider of capital with a focus on financial services, buying Pearl Life and most recently Resolution plc in a deal worth almost $10bn. Johnson founded the private equity group Risk Capital Partners and is currently Chairman of Channel 4.
Livingstone deal leader Christopher Jones commented: “It was a pleasure to work on behalf of some of the most accomplished deal makers of their respective generations. Hard work...but a real pleasure!”
Dean de Beer, the CEO of Tristar, commented: “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to buy the business we have been successfully running and growing for the past 10 years.”
The Tristar deal marks the first deal of 2008 for both Livingstone and Octopus. Livingstone completed 38 deals in the UK in 2007 worth $3bn; 23 deals involved private equity houses such as Octopus, with a deal value of over $2.2bn.
For further information contact Head of Facilities Services sector team:
Jeremy Furniss
Tel: 00 44 20 7484 4708
Email: jfurniss@livingstonepartners.co.uk
If you would like to receive more details about any of the events underlying any of the news items or press releases above, please email Ann Wilson.
