Canal & River Trust - BWML Sale

London
Midlands and North
Landlord/Investor
Marine and Leisure
Expert marine and leisure property advice
Charitable Trust
Advised on marketing and sale of business subsidiary, BWML
Undertook strategic review of BWML
Worked in conjunction with M&A specialists
Challenge
How we helped

Worked with the Canal & River Trust to undertake a strategic review of BMWL, deploying specialist knowledge of the inland waterways. The purpose of this review was two-fold:

    • To ensure that the property titles were up to date and ready for a sale; And
    • To ensure that the resultant marketing process could properly highlight future investment and growth opportunities.

Worked with M&A specialists from BDO to prepare the business for a sale and drafted detailed information memoranda.

Worked with investment team to issue details to targeted list of investors and private equity specialists, as well as to existing marina operators.

Generated high level of market interest, which was filtered via a two-round informal tender process.

Selected one of the UK’s leading mid-market private equity firm, LDC, as the preferred bidder.

With a portfolio of 90 businesses across a broad range of sectors and a commitment to backing ambitious management teams like that of BMWL, LDC represented the ideal investor.

Results

As a result of the strategic marine property advice we provided, coupled with our in-depth knowledge of the sector, we successfully secured the disposal of the company at a figure in excess of the initial guide price.

We sourced a responsible investor which met our client’s requirements and enabled the Canal & River Trust to reinvest the proceeds of the sale to safeguard the ongoing upkeep and running of the country’s inland waterway network.

The investment will enable BMWL to grow its established brand to enrich the experience of its marina users through the delivery of improvements across the marina sites, as well as the addition of new locations to further strengthen its market position.

LDC was advised by DC Advisory and Gateley plc. Canal & River Trust was also advised by Bevan Brittan LLP and BDO LLP.

We are delighted to have completed the sale of BWML. We’d like to thank Vail Williams for their in-depth knowledge and expertise which played an integral role in helping us to achieve our desired outcome.

Stuart Mills, Chief investment officer, Canal & River Trust.

Get in touch

If you think you may need similar support to that described here, or you would simply want to have an informal chat with a member of our team to discuss your property needs, get in touch.