Cope leads FMG buyout
Andrew Cope, has led the management buyout of FMG, the specialist in incident management and roadside recovery, for an undisclosed sum.
The buyout sees Andrew increase his investment and shareholding in FMG, with John Catling, CEO, and the rest of the senior management team also increasing their shareholdings. Founder, Nick Brown, remains a significant shareholder. Institutional investor, Spirit Capital has sold its stake which it acquired in 2008 and has been replaced by private equity house Endless LLP.
FMG specialises in providing outsourced incident management services for a range of clients including insurance companies, corporates with large car fleets and vehicle leasing companies. In addition, FMG also provides specialist roadside recovery services for Highways England along with a number of Police regions and local councils. FMG has grown the fleet it manages by nearly 60% in the past two years, to approaching 250,000 vehicles.
Having led Zenith, the vehicle leasing business, through five successful private equity buyouts between 2003 and 2014, Andrew joined FMG in April 2014 as executive chairman. Andrew commented, ‘We are on the cusp of some very exciting developments at FMG and this is a great time to complete the buyout and accelerate the growth in the business. We believe we can shake up the industry and that’s what we intend to do, delivering great service for our clients. We were very lucky as we had a lot of investors keen to support our plan, for which we are very grateful. We chose Endless to invest with us as they have a remarkable way of transacting, which is so much faster and more attune with what management teams want than anything I have experienced in the six buyout processes I have now been involved in.’
Darren Forshaw, partner at Endless, said, ‘2014 was remarkable year for Endless and this momentum has continued into 2015. Supporting Andrew, John and the team in the buyout of FMG is an important step for Endless and fits perfectly with our new, broader investment plans. It is an exciting business in a growing and changing market, which we believe will provide great opportunities for the team at FMG to show its strengths. Our pipeline for new opportunities has never been better and we are expecting to make further announcements in the short term.’
