Maven has completed its exit from Dantec Hose Limited (Dantec), a manufacturer of composite hoses for the global petrochemical market. The sale to Germany based Elaflex-Gummi Ehlers Gmbh (Elaflex) has generated a 2.1x total return for Maven clients.
The sale represents Maven's sixth profitable exit from its private equity portfolio in the past six months, including the realisations of Cash Bases and Westway Services which generated a 7.1x and 6.8x total return respectively on the original investment.
Maven led the management buyout of Dantec in September 2011, and have since supported the business in implementing a number of financial and operational improvements which have led to geographical and sectoral expansion of its customer base. Established in 1969, Dantec has since grown to become one of the leading manufacturers of composite hoses for bespoke petrochemical, marine and industrial applications, including supplying refuelling hoses for Formula 1. Around 70% of Dantec's turnover is from overseas with products sold to over 50 countries worldwide.
Composite hoses provide the vital flexible connection for a wide variety of fluid transfer systems, including those used with gas, petroleum and chemicals. Manufacturing quality and safety standards are vital for the integrity of composite hoses, with customers requiring flexibility, light weight and a wide range of chemical resistance. Dantec is renowned for product quality, technical excellence and innovation, and was the first composite hose manufacturer to achieve ISO 9000 status.
Ryan Bevington, Investment Director at Maven, said: “We have enjoyed working with the management team who have worked hard to grow the business in the period since our investment. Elaflex are both a supplier and customer to Dantec so a strong working relationship has been built between the two businesses, and importantly Elaflex hold similar long term ambitions to the team at Dantec which was instrumental in delivering the deal.”
John Laidlaw, Managing Director of Dantec, added: "Maven have been entirely supportive of Dantec and the management team during our time together. We found them to be supportive of our goals, aims and aspirations, and as we always felt that our next step would be a trade exit. Ryan and the team were sympathetic towards our desire to find such a buyer who could match our long term ambitions whilst safeguarding the existing company structure. It has been an absolute pleasure working with Ryan and I have personally learned a lot from him during the initial MBO, through board matters and now on exit.”