Electra Partners acquires Davies Group in a £60 million deal

POSTED 03 October 2011

Electra Partners announces that it has acquired the Davies Group ("Davies"), a leading provider of claims solutions to the insurance industry, from LDC in a transaction valued at £60 million. The deal completed on 30 September.

As a controlled investment situation, this transaction qualifies as a Club deal and Electra Private Equity PLC and the Electra Partners Club 2007 LP have together invested a total £49 million of equity. Davies management have rolled over a substantial reinvestment.

Recognised as one of the most innovative and well-respected providers of claims solutions in the UK, Davies provides a range of services across all sectors of the insurance market, including claims management (handling of insurance claims between insurer and policyholder), validation and loss adjusting services, and claim fulfilment (co-ordination of outsourced restoration and repair services) to some of the best-known and most successful insurance brands in the UK.

Operating from 19 UK locations, Davies acts on behalf of a range of insurance companies, specialist sectors such as Lloyd's of London, as well as service companies, brokers and self-insured entities. With a team of over 600 employees the business processes in excess of 125,000 insurance claims annually, equating to £500 million of insurers indemnity spend.

The Davies management team is led by CEO Charles Crawford, an established and well-respected figure within the industry, who has been with the company since 2009.

Alex Fortescue, Chief Investment Partner at Electra Partners, said: "Davies has been transformed under the leadership of Charles and his team and we are excited to be backing him to deliver further growth and innovation."

Charles Crawford, CEO of Davies Group, said: "Since I joined the business we have undertaken a significant programme of operational development driven by major investment in people, infrastructure and systems. This has enabled us to grow our business by supporting existing and new customers with an ever improving range of traditional and innovative solutions focused on delivering a market-leading service. Davies now has the ideal platform to develop our market offering even further. In Electra, we have secured the right partner to support our shared vision."

The Electra Partners deal team includes Alex Fortescue, Charles Elkington and John Martin.

This is the fourth investment Electra Partners has made this year following the acquisitions in March of heating and hot water treatment specialist, Sentinel Performance Solutions, and fine art materials supplier Daler-Rowney, and a secondary investment in Steadfast Capital's second fund in June.

More recently, on 27 September Electra announced that it had entered into a binding agreement to sell its interest in specialist credit card provider, SAV Credit and on 
30 September the company announced the sale of its interest in heating products manufacturer BDR Thermea.

Electra Partners refers to Electra Partners LLP acting on behalf of its clients Electra Private Equity PLC and Electra Partners Club 2007 LP.