Sale of Manufacturer & Supplier of Custom-Made Blinds
The Company
Hornblower received the mandate to sell Sandridge Blinds in 2015. The company, a locally based family business operating in East Yorkshire enjoyed an impressive trading record of over 40 years. Over that time the company had built a reputation as a leading manufacturer, installer and supplier of custom-made window blinds, serving a well-established residential and commercial client base.
The company benefitted from a solid manufacturing infrastructure, operating from a 12,000 sq. ft. purpose designed factory equipped with the latest machinery, to ensure high levels of quality and maintain its position as a leading manufacturer in a competitive market. In addition, the sales side of the business was supported by a well-equipped showroom, displaying an extensive product range to accommodate all requirements, including wooden blinds, roller blinds, trademarked branded blinds, as well as Velux, venetian and roman blinds.
Sandridge Blinds also led in terms of staff expertise and a personally focussed service, with a showroom team on hand to offer expert advice to customers onsite, as well as a team of staff delivering advice over the telephone.
The Situation
In some cases, the process of selling a business can prove to be a marathon, rather than a sprint. The pace of a business sale can be determined by a number of factors, ranging from personal circumstances driving a vendor’s timing to exit the business, to wider sectoral or market forces which may hinder or accelerate the pace of the sale.
In the case of Sandridge Blinds, the pace of the sale was influenced by the trend in the blind manufacturing sector, of companies migrating to online sales, as opposed to the in-person retail route to market, which the Sandridge Blinds model relied heavily upon. The sector was also experiencing a major shift in the form of consolidation, with a few players emerging as dominant in the marketplace. These factors resulted in promoting a cautious response from prospective buyers.
Despite these prevailing trends, Sandridge Blinds proved its ongoing relevance and strength in the market, demonstrating consistent sales and profits over the years despite the hesitant approach from prospective buyers in the market. Nevertheless, the mandate for Sandridge Blinds generated healthy interest, receiving 120 enquiries over the 5 years the business was on the market.
During this time, Sandridge Blinds demonstrated further resilience in response to the onset of Covid19 restrictions by taking the opportunity to expand upon its online offering. With the showroom closed, the company shifted its service to home and business visits and offered customers the ability to view samples of blind patterns and fabrics online, with the option to choose samples to be delivered free of charge to the customer’s address.
The Outcome
The vendors were keen to pursue a sale at a certain price and so we stuck with the client throughout this longer than usual process, regularly updating the memorandum and presentation of the business until we found the right buyer.
The eventual buyer had been registered with us on other opportunities for some time and working with our network of finance brokers, they were able to raise sufficient funding to allow a good workable deal for the seller at the target headline value and 60% paid on completion.
Heads of terms were signed in January 2021 and the deal completed at the end of February 2021.
The deal was managed by our Nottingham based International M&A Director, Mark Sykes. Mark manages business sales for Hornblower across the Midlands and North UK as well as internationally.
SOLD February 2021
